KOMEO AND JULIET

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Romeo and Juliet

By

William Shakespeare

WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

K. Deighton

London
Macmillan and Co., Limited

New York : The Macmillan Company

1905

AU rights reserved

First Edition 1S93.
Reprinted 1903, 1905.

GLASGOW : PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.

CONTENTS.

PAGE

Introduction, > . . vii

Romeo and Juliet, 1

Notes, gg

Index to Notes, ...,.,,. 213

J

INTKODUCTION.

As to the date at which Borneo and Juliet was first Date of Piay.
written, and what its form then was, we have no certain
information. Its first printed appearance is the Quarto
of 1597, but that quarto was without doubt a pirated
one. The second quarto, 1599, is described on the title-
page as "newly corrected, augmented, and amended";
and this edition is our best authority for the play in its
complete state, though it does not enable us to decide
with certainty how far the alteration of form is due to
revision by the poet, how far to correction and com-
pletion of the pirated quarto. Nor of course does it
give us any help as to the date of composition. In-
ternal evidence clearly points to two periods of work,
the earlier being indicated by the abundance of rhyme
and of forced conceits ; and it is now pretty generally
held that the j^lay in its original form, or a substantial
part of it, was written in 1591 or 1592, and received its
final shape in 1596. If the Nurse's words in i. 3. 23
allude, as has been supposed, to the earthquake of 1580,
we have the year 1591 as the date of that part of the
play, or the year 1593, if the Nurse's miscalculation is
to be harmonized with her statement of Juliet's age.
It is, however, to be doubted whether any particular
,earthc{uake is alluded to.

vii

viii ROMEO AND JULIET.

Source of the Here we are upon more certain ground. Though the
story in its main incidents is found in various old
romances and poems, Greek, Italian, and French, Shake-
speare's main source was the poem of Bomeus and Juliet
by Arthur Brooke, published in 1562, while here and
there in the play are indications that he had consulted
a translation of Boisteau's Histoire de Deux Amans (itself
an adaptation of the Italian Bandello's romance on the
same subject) which appeared in Painter's Palace of
Pleasure, 1597. He may also have seen a play, probably
an English one, to which Brooke refers in his address
" to the Eeader," though no such play has come down to
us, nor do we even know its title. Brooke's poem of
alternated twelve and fourteen syllable rhymes, extends
to 3026 lines, and, says Grant White,* " the tragedy
follows the poem with a faithfulness which might be
called slavish, \vere it not that any variation from the
course of the old story was entirely unnecessary for the
sake of dramatic interest, and were there not shown in
the progress of the action, in the modification of one
character, and in the disposal of another, all peculiar to
the play, self-reliant dramatic intuition of the highest
order. L,For the rest, there is not a personage or a
situation, "hardly a speech, essential to Brooke's poem,
which has not its counterpart — its exalted and glorified
counterpart — in the tragedy. To mention every point
of correspondence between the poem and the play,
would be to recount here the entire progress of the
story in both, accompanied by a description of the
characters : . . . Suffice it here to observe, that in the
poem we find even Romeo's invisible and soon-forgotten
* Shakespeare's Worlcs, Vol. x. pp. 8-10.

INTRODUCTION. ix

mistress, the remorseless Eosaline, though without her
name ; Friar Lawrence addicted to study. . . . the
Nurse, greedy, garrulous, gross, and faithless, just as we
find her in the play ; the Apothecary, Avhom by ' his
heavy countenance ' Romeo ' gessed to be poore,' . . .
Tibalt, ' best exercised in feates of armes ' ; and even
Friar John, who, seeking to be ' accompanide by one of
his profession,' enters a house whence, to carry his
brother Lawrence's letter to Romeo, ' he might not issue
out agayne, For that a brother 'of the house a day
before or twayne Dyed of the plague.' And not only
have such minor characters and incidents of the play
their germs or counterparts in the old story, but even
such incidental passages as the soliloquy uttered by
Juliet, terror-stricken at her imagination of what might
await her in her kinsmen's vault if she should take the
friar's iDotion, and that other soliloquy, in which she
passionately calls on Xight and Romeo to come to her.
jln brief, Romeo and Jtdiet owes to Shakespeare only its^
J dramatic form and its poetic decoration. But what an
exception is the latter ! It is to saj' that the earth owes
to the sun only its verdure and its flowers, the air only
its perfume and its balm, the heavens only their azure
and their glow. Yet this must not lead us to forget
that the original tale is one of the most truthful and
touching among the few that have entranced the ear
and stirred the heart of the world for ages, or that in
Shakespeare's transfiguration of it his fancy and his
youthful fire had a much larger share than his philo-
sophy or his imagination.^ The only variations from the
story in the play are the three which have just been
alluded to. — The compression of the action, which iu

X ROMEO AND JULIET.

the story occupies four or five months, to within as
many clays, thus adding impeti;osity to a passion which
had only depth, and enhancing dramatic effect hy quick-
ening truth to vividness ; — the conversion of Mercutio
from a mere 'courtier,' 'bold emong the bashfull
maydes,' ' courteous of his speech and pleasant of devise,'
into that splendid union of the knight and the fine
-^ gentleman, in portraying which Shakespeare, with pro-

phetic eye piercing a century, shows us the fire of faded
chivalry expiring in a flash of wit ; — and the bringing in
of Paris (forgotten in the story after his bridal disap-
pointment) to die at Juliet's bier by the hand of Romeo,
thus gathering together all the threads of this love
entanglement to be cut at once by Fate."
Outline of the Throughout this tragedy it is to be borne in mind

play with re- o o j

marks upon that the sccne is Italy, and the actors the passionate

the charac-
ters, children of the South, passionate alike in love and in

hatred. " The mid-July heat," as Dowden says, " broods

over the five tragic days of the story. The mad blood is

stirring in men's veins during these hot summer days,"*

the veins of a race wearing " the shadow'd livery of the

burnish'd sun." Material for fateful issues is ready in

the long-standing blood-feud of the families of the

Montagues and the Capulets. Tragedy is, so to speak,

in the air, and it needs but little that the electric current

should discharge itself The protagonists of the drama

are in the hey-day of life ; the hero handsome, of

sprightly wit, trained in all manly accomplishments,

brave, and gentle in the security of true courage, but,

partly from his surroundings, as yet without a sufficient

purpose in life, greatly the slave of emotion, his soul

questing about for love and fancying that it has found

* Shakspere, His Mind and Art, p. 115.

f* INTRODUCTION.

XI

r \its desire ; the heroine of but fourteen summers, yet of
an age at which in those sunny climes love blossoms
with a splendour unknown to maidens of the frozen
^Torth, impulsive but fancy-free, of incomparable loveli-
ness but a stranger to the mie;ht with which such
guerdon dowers her, capable of boundless devotion, deli-
cate of mind as of person, trustful, while at the same
time instinct with the sensitiveness of whitest purity.
In such an atmosphere of blended romance and passion
the curtain rises upon a bloody encounter between the
servants of the rival houses ever glad of an opportunity
to l-enew the ancient quarrel. While the riot is at its
height, the heads of the two houses themselves appear
upon the scene, no less eager than their servants to join-
in the fray. On the entry of Escalus, Prince of Verona, •
and his train, the combatants are parted, Capulet
accompanying the Prince to his palace, and Montague
being ordered to attend him in the afternoon to learn
his pleasure regarding the affray. Montague, Lady
Montague, and their nephew Benvolio remain, and Lady
Montague now inquires of Benvolio as to her son, Eomeo.
From the conversation we learn that for some time past
he has given way to a deep melancholy, the cause of
which his parents have in vain sought to discover.
While his conduct is still under discussion Romeo enters,
and Benvolio having promised to worm his secret from —
him, the father and mother leave the cousins together.
As might be anticipated, Romeo's secret is love, or what
he takes to be love, for a certain irresponsive Rosaline.
That his passion is but a faint shadow of the reality is
soon evident. For when persuaded by Benvolio to
unbosom himself, he does so in a string of wire-drawn

xii ROMEO AND JULIET.

conceits, bares his wounds in flimsy tropes, languishes,
in clear-cut epigram, disputes in stilted antithesis, play.j^
the mincing sonneteer ; — parades, in a word, all tl]j._
plague-tokens of love's green-sickness, all the emotions,
that if genuine Avould have been jealously guarded from
closest gaze. His protestations of undying constancy
are, however, soon to be tested. For the same night,
at a ball given by the Capulets, to which in the hopes
of seeing Rosaline he, though unbidden, repairs, he
meets Juliet. The result is instantaneous. To him
Eosaline had been

" The summer pilot of an empty heart
Unto the shores of nothing " ;

with the sight of Juliet, love finds acknowledged
" empire for life." Nor is conviction less swift in hers.
A few brief looks, the interchange of less than a dozen
sentences, and she owns to herself the mastery of the
same power. Eomeo departs ; but for him there can be
no rest that night. He has come face to face with
realities that demand exercise of will, contempt of
danger, action. An hour or so later he finds his
way to the garden of his hereditar}^ foe, and by love's
instinct to the very spot overlooked by Juliet's chamber.
At the window stands the maiden in converse with her-
self upon the events of the evening, and, all unconscious
of any neighbouring ear, pouring forth her heart's con-
fession. Such confession overheard by Romeo puts an
end to any hesitancy that might still linger in his mind.
Discovering himself, he claims fulfilment of those vows
by which in her innocent outpouring Juliet had bpund
herself, and now the unspoken contract of looks is

INTRODUCTION. xiii

ratified by words. Yet it is not Romeo but Juliet who
-^es things in their practical light. For a brief space
^^ has had her trepidations at the suddenness of her
Tv-.s; "although," she says, "I joy in thee,"

" I have no joy of this contract to-night :
It is too rasli. too unadvised, too sudden,
Too like the lig^htning which doth cease to be
Ere one can say ' It lightens ' " ;

but in spite of this, and though the confession of her
love which in fancied security she has made to herself,
and which when surprised she has no power to retract,
may cause "a maiden blush bepaint" her "cheek," yet
in the purity of her heart and the utter surrender of
herself which she is importunate to complete, she recoo-- -'
nizes that if Eomeo's love resembles hers there is but
one issue possible, and that, placed as they are by the
jmplacable hatred of their parents, all scruples "as to
JPorm and show must yield to more imperative demands
and the sanction of marriage put its seal upon their
love.* If to Romeo there comes no such swift recoo-ni-

* Of this perfect scene it is noticeable that the beauty of
thought and language is matched by the beauty of versification.
"In two scenes," observes Swinburne, A Sfudj/ of Shakespeare,
pp. 35, 6, " we may say that the whole heart or spirit of Borneo
and Juliet is summed up and distilled into perfect and pure
expression ; and these two are written in blank verse of equable
and blameless melody. Outside the garden ' scene in the second
act and the balcony scene in the third, there is much that is
fanciful and graceful, much of elegiac pathos and fervid if fan-
tastic passion ; much also of superfluous rhetoric and (as it were)
of wordy melody, which flows and foams hither and thither into
something of extravagance and excess ; but in these two there
is no flaw, no outbreak, no superflux, and no failure."

xiv ROMEO AND JULIET.

tion of facts, he at all events needs no spur to urge him
forward on the path of happiness. As the day dawns,
he hurries off to the cell of his life-long friend and
spiritual adviser, Father Laurence, by whose aid he
hopes to attain his end. The Friar, trusting that by
such alliance the feud between the two families will be
healed for ever, yields to the lover's importunities and
assents to a secret marriage on the same afternoon.
Later in the day, Romeo through Juliet's Nurse is able
to convey the glad tidings of the Friar's promise, and
early in the afternoon the ceremonj'' is performed. For
the present the wedded pair separate, hopefully looking
forward to the time when through the instrumentality
of the Friar the minds of their parents may be prepared
for a discovery of their marriage. Such hope, however,
is to be suddenly dashed to the ground. The parting is
just over when Eomeo meets Tybalt, nephew of the
Capulets, who is seeking him out in order to fasten a
quarrel upon him for having uninvited been present at
the last night's ball. Eomeo is of course anxious to
avoid fighting with Juliet's cousin, and meets his angry
taunts with calm replies. His hot-blooded friend
Mercutio, however, will not let Tybalt's words pass by,
but draws the quarrel upon himself, and in the combat
that ensues is stabbed by Tybalt under the arm of
Romeo who is endeavouring to part the combatants.
Mercutio dies, and Tybalt, who had left the scene,
returning, Romeo's just wrath at his friend's death puts
aside all considerations of prudence, and rushing fiercely
upon Tybalt he lays him dead at his feet. The Prince
now appears, inquires into the origin of the fray, and
concludes by passing sentence on Romeo of banishment

INTRODUCTION. xv

to Mantua, sparing his life only because the quarrel had
in a measure been forced upon him. Meanwhile Juliet
is counting the moments for her next meeting with
Romeo, when the Nurse enters with the news of Tybalt's
death. So incoherent, however, are her words that
Juliet at first believes it to be Eomeo who has fallen.
When at length she perceives the truth she bursts forth
into execrations upon Romeo whose deeds have proved
so far at variance with his looks. The Nurse in parasitic
agreement echoes her words. This quickly produces a
revulsion in Juliet's mind. She becomes conscious that
Romeo has after all acted only in self-defence, reproaches
herself bitterly for her doubts, and, the course of her
griefs thus turned, is sensible of all that his banishment
means to her — the ruin of her life. The Nurse comforts
her with the promise of quickly bringing Romeo, and
she nerves herself for what she knows must be a long
farewell. Romeo is even more broken with grief at the
sentence that has fallen upon him. The sudden strength
of purpose which his love had inspired now deserts him.
Seeking the Friar's cell, he abandons himself to a
paroxysm of despair, threatens to take his own life, and
rejects all consolation that the Friar would administer.
While thus prostrated, he is aroused by the coming of
the Nurse to bid him visit his bride. This summons
gives the Friar the opportunity of further urging reason.
With stern directness he chides the cowardly refuge to
which Romeo would fly, adding to the crime of slaying
Tybalt the further crime of self-slaughter, and in that
the probable death of her whom he is bound to cherish,
not destroy ; points out that his fury is rather that of a
beast than of a man, his utter self-abandonment the

b

xvi ROMEO AND JULIET.

weakness of a woman, his meditated desertion a perjury
of the soul ; then taking a gentler tone he shows how
fortunate Romeo should think himself in that his sen-
tence is exile, not death, how that Juliet is still alive
and his own, how that life at Mantua may be borne
with courage and patience till happier hours shall enable
him to return and claim his bride, and how in the
meantime tidings shall be sent to him of everything
happening at Verona that may smooth the path to such
good fortune. The impressionable Romeo, to whom life
has hitherto been all sunshine, real grief a thing
unknown, and therefore terrible to encounter, is
soothed like a frightened child, and now thinks only of
the near approach of joy in once more holding Juliet
in his arms. The meeting alternates between rapture
and despair ; between happy auguries of joyous re-union
and all too prescient forebodings of death's divorcing
hand, and ends in

" those caresses, when a hundred times
In that last kiss, which never was the last,
Farewell, like endless welcome, lived and died."

Romeo now enters upon his banishment, and if the lot
is one hard to endure, his trial is as nothing to that
which awaits Juliet. For some time past a kinsman of
the Prince, Paris by name, has been a suitor for her hand,
and his suit is one welcomed by her parents, though she
herself has scarcely contemplated as serious the hints
that have been given her. Now "to put her from her
heaviness," which at first they suppose to be on account
of Tybalt's death, they determine to force the marriage
upon her. Juliet receives their decision with terror.

INTRODUCTION. xvii

To her mother she flatly refuses to accept Paris. With
her father, who in furious anger insists on compliance,
she pleads to be heard in objection to such an union.
The onJy. answer is more anger, fresh vituperation.
Alone with the Nurse, she seeks comfort from one who
has so often been the sharer of her hopes and her
secrets, i^nd has helped her in her marriage with Romeo.
For all consolation, she gets from the treacherous old
woman the advice to accept Paris :

" 0, he 's a lovely gentleman !
Romeo's a dishclout to him,"

says this time-serving harridan, who, finding how the \/
wind blows, is now in terror at her own share in what
she looks upoji as an escapade to be blotted out as best
may be. Aghast at such treachery, which at first she
cannot believe to be real, Juliet for ever casts her olf :

" Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I '11 to the friar, to know his remedy :
If all else fail, myself have power to die. "

In the scene which follows, all the purity of a pure
I heart, all the heroism of ancient heritage and individual
nobility, shine forth in steady light. Separation from
Romeo, bitter as the experience comes to her new-born
bliss, is bearable, and she bears it. But to shame, to a
violation of her soul, anything is preferable, death but a
paltry shock. She will dare all, and she accepts with
alacrity the one resource the Friar can oflfer, a resource
jin its uncertainty and its gruesome concomitants many
times more terrible than death. For the Friar's proposal
is that the night before the threatened marriage day she

xviii ROMEO AND JULIET.

shall drink a potion which for the space of forty-two
hours will throw her into a death-like trance, during
which she is to be interred in the family vault, the Friar
being ready with Romeo, to whom instructions are to
be sent, to set her free from the tomb as soon as the
effects of the potion wear off, when the pair are to make
their escape to Mantua. Possessed of the phial Juliet
returns home and pretends compliance with her parents'
wishes. The preparations for the wedding on the day
next but one are hurried forward, and on its eve Juliet
retires to her chamber knowing that no respite is now
possible, that the Friar's remedy is the only loophole of
hope. As she prepares to follow his directions she is
tortured by horrible forebodings, with doubts whether
the mixture will have its promised effects, whether it
may not be a poison given her by the Friar in order to
shield himself from the dishonour that would fall upon
him if performing a second marriage while her husband
is still alive. Her over-wrought fancies then picture to
her the terrors of awaking from her trance before
Romeo comes to set her free, the stifling vault, the
neighbourhood of her newly-buried cousin, the apparition
of the spirits of the dead, — terrors sufficient she feels to
drive her into madness and self-destruction. " Suddenly
in her disordered vision the figure of the murdered
Tybalt rises, and is manifestly in pursuit of some one.
Of whom 1 Not of Juliet, but of her lover who has
slain him. A moment before Juliet had shrunk with
horror from the thought of confronting Tybalt in the
vault of the Capulets. But now Romeo is in danger.
All fear deserts her. To stand by Romeo's side is her
one necessity. With a confused sense that this draught

INTRODUCTION. xix

will somehow place her close to the murderous Tybalt,
and close to Eomeo whom she would save, calling aloud
to Tybalt to delay one moment — ' Stay, Tybalt, stay ! '
—she drains the phial, not 'in a fit of fright,'* but with
the Avords, ' Komeo ! I come ; this do I drink to thee.'" f
The day breaks, Juliet is found to all appearance dead,
and in accordance with the necessities of the climate her
funeral follows without delay. The Friar has meanwhile
sent news to Romeo of the threatened marriage, and
instructions as to the measures to be taken. Unfortu-
nately his messenger, another Friar, on repairing to the
house of his order in Mantua and seeking for one of his
brethren to accompany him to Romeo's abode, is pre-
vented from going forth to the city in consequence of
a death from the plague having occurred within the
convent walls and all egress being forbidden by law.
Before he can find means to deliver his letter, Romeo's
servant, who had been sent back to Verona, returns to
his master with tidings of Juliet's death and burial.
The moment before his arrival Romeo had been indulg-
ing in one of his golden-hued visions, auguring from a
dream just dreamt " some joyful news at hand," dreaming
for the last time in his life. But if till now he still
retains something of his wistful way of looking at life,
some of that self-consciousness shown in his morbid
outbursts about Rosaline, some of that indulgence in
the luxury of woe which even after his union with
Juliet he cannot forgo, there is from this moment no
longer any blindness as to reality, no shrinking from the

* As Coleridge explains.

tDowden, Shakspere, His Mind and Art, pp. 115, 6.

XX ROMEO AND JULIET.

blow that has fallen, nothing indeterminate as to his
future. Death has taken his beloved one. There
remains therefore only to join her in her grave. All is
to him summed up in this, and his prompt resolve is as
promptly carried into action. Buying of an apothecary
in Mantua a poison which is to have instantaneous
effect, he sets out for Verona, and arriving at night
proceeds to Juliet's grave. Thither at the same hour
comes Paris to strew with flowers the last resting-place
of her whom he had hoped to make his wife. As
Romeo is opening the vault, Paris discovers himself and
seeks to arrest the " villanous shame to the dead bodies "
which he imagines Romeo in his vengeance about to
perpetrate. Romeo would appease his wrath with
gentle words ; he shrinks from laying another sin upon
his already burdened soul ; he prays Paris not to tempt
to fury a desperate man who comes armed against him-
self alone. But his words are useless. A hand to hand
combat ensues and Paris is slain. Laying Paris in the
monument, and taking a final farewell of Juliet, Romeo
swallows off the poison and falls dead. As he does so,
the Friar with implements to open the vault comes to
the churchyard and entering the tomb is in time to see
Juliet awaken from her trance. On his approach he
had discovered Romeo's dead body, and now in answer
to her inquiries has to tell her what has happened.
His Avords are fatal, for Juliet, refusing all comfort, audi
taking a last kiss from Romeo's lips, seizes a dagger he ,
is wearing and plunges it into her breast. At this
juncture the city watch, brought thither by Pai'is's page, :
who, from a distance, had witnessed the combat between I
his master and Romeo, come upon the scene and arrest

INTRODUCTION. xxi

the Friar and Romeo's servant. The news of strange
events at Juliet's tomb has moreover spread to the city,
and presently the Prince, followed by the Capulets,
Montague, and others, hurry to the spot. The Friar and
Romeo's servant relate at full the story of the marriage
and the subsequent events, and the play ends with the
reconciliation of Montague and Capuleb over the grave
of their lost ones.

We have now followed the "pair of star-cross'd lovers "
in " the fearful passage of their death-mark'd love."

I The heritage of hate has determined in reconciliation.
But at what a cost ! The sole hopes of two houses lie
side by side in their self-made graves, the noble Paris
perishes while strewing with flowers his love's "bridal
bed " in death, the witty, gallant, irrepressible, Mercutio
owes his fatal wound to the intervention of his friend,
"grief of" her "son's exile hath stopped" the mother's
" breath " ! Passion has had its day, the passion of an
emotional but finely-strung soul in Romeo, whom con-
tact with a higlier nature takes out of himself, rouses
from an apathy threatening to paralyse his life, ennobles
into earnest purpose, strengthens for self-abandonment,
though the piteous self-abandonment which sees in a
ruined love the ruin of life itself: the passion of a far
grander soul in Juliet who, an untaught girl, owing
little to a mother's love, still less to the wise counsels of
a careful father, is yet garrisoned about by the intuitions
of purity, unswerving devotion, singleness of mind and
directness of aim, fortitude to suffer all but the polluting
touch of sin : the passion of less noble souls to Avhich
worldly honoui', the dictates of family pride, the conven-
tional obligations to maintain a tradition of uncompro-

xxii ROMEO AND JULIET.

raising hostility, merely because it is a tradition, render
peace and good-will, the study of the public well-being,
•^ the comity of private life, things altogether outside their
ken.

To avoid interruption of the narrative, little has been
said of certain characters who play a part, subordinate
indeed, but still of much importance. These are espe-
cially the Friar, Mercutio, and the Nurse. When first
we meet the Friar, he is out in the early morning cull-
ing simples for use in medicine, a science he has deeply
and successfully studied. He has been Romeo's spiritual
adviser from early youth, his confidant in regard to
Rosaline, and his aid is now sought to solve the difficulty
of marriage with Juliet. A good old man who in his
youth has known stormy passions and the stress of life,
he has sought in religion and retirement the comfort he
could not elsewhere find ; his great delight is to alleviate
suffering of whatever kind, and above all to promote
peace among his fellow-creatures. In the matter, how-
ever, before us his pursuit ofthis goodlv task masters his
sounder judgment, and with too ready compliance he
assents to Romeo's 'request. He in fact does evil that
good may c^me — and with the usual result of such
temporizing. His piety, benevolence, and sympathy are
undoubted, but whereas in his solitary musings and his
priestly intercourse with human nature he thinks to
have garnered up the teachings of philosophy, he has
in reality missed true wisdom of life. Face to face with
Romeo's distress at the sentence of exile, he can indeed
reprove his despair with wholesome counsel, and by
reasonable argument bring him into a sounder frame of
mind. But when he lias himself to act, his stored up

INTRODUCTION. xxiii

wisdom only leads_him_wrong. He _erES~m=-being_a»„
party to the marriage, and his ingenuity and resource
suggesting an escape from the inconvenient consequences
of this step, he thinks to Temedy his first error by a
stratagem in which the child-hke JuHet is to be involved.
No doubt the courage to confess to the parents how
matters stand would bring down upon himself much
unpleasantness. It would bring down something worse
upon Romeo and Juliet, and this consideration we may
well believe weighs more heavily upon him than any
personal penalties. Still, his duty is or should be clear
before him. Even at the last when the tragic ending
has come, and he is forced to unburden himself of his
secret, though he palliates nothing, his confession of
error is only conditional ; " if aught in this," he says,

" Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrificed some hour before his time
Unto the rigour of severest law."

" If aught ! " yet without his too facile compliance there
would be no tragedy to bewail ! Hudson has " always
feir"a special comfort in the part of Friar Laurence.
HoAv finely his tranquillity contrasts with the surround-
ing agitation ! And how natural it seems that from
that very agitation he should draw lessons of tran-
quillity ! " Tranquillity, yes ; but what if it be a tran-
quillity that diff&rs not much from an easy-going evasion
of unpleasant realities," "a" tfiTnguiliity which-isLto be
maintained at the cost uf three Jives ? According to
Gefvinus, the Friar *^ represents, as it were, the part of
the chorus in this tragedy, and expresses the leading
idea of the piece in all its fulness, namely, that excess in

xxiv ROMEO AND JULIET.

any enjoyment, however pure in itself, transforms its
sweel into bitterness ; that devotion to any single
feeling, however noble, bespeaks its ascendancy; that
this ascendancy moves the man aiTd wnman out ofTheir
natural spheres ; that love can only 1)8 an accompani-
ment to life, and that it cannot completely fill out the
life and business of the man especially ; that in the full
power of its first feeling it is a paroxysm of happiness,
the very nature of which forbids its continuance in equal
strength ; that, as the poet says in an image, it is a
flower that " ' ^

' Being smelt, with that part cheers each part ; ,
Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.' '

But surely Shakespeare means nothing of the kind.
Surely he does not seek to "moralize this spectacle"
through the agency of one who despite his long years,
his acquisition of knowledge, his experience of life, his
trusted philosophy, errs so grievously, errs in broad
daylight, and without the excuse of passion to disturb
his calm and tranquil mind. Sliakespeare, it seems to
me, dramatizes Brooke's narrative in his own incom-
parable fashion, and he does nothing more.

Mercutio is the very antithesis to Borneo. " The
brooding nature of Romeo," says Dowden,* " which
cherishes emotion, and lives in it, is made salient by
contrast with Mercutio, who is all wit, and intellect, and
vivacity, an uncontrollable play of gleaming and glanc-
ing life. Upon the morning after the betrothal with
Juliet, a meeting happens between Romeo and Mercutio.
Previously, while a lover of Rosaline, Romeo had culti-

* Shakspere, His Mind and Art, pp. 116, 7.

INTRODUCTION. xxv

vated a lover-like melancholy. But now, partly because
his blood runs gladly, partly because the union of soul
with Juliet has made the whole world more real and
substantial, and things have grown too solid and lasting
to be disturl)ed by a laugh, Romeo can contend in jest
with Mercutio himself, and stretch his wit of cheveril
'from an inch narrow to an ell broad.' Mercutio and
the Nurse are Shakespeare's creations in this play. For
the character of the former he had but a slight hint in
the poem of Arthur Brooke. There we read of Mer-
cutio as a courtier who was bold among the bashful
maidens as a lion among lambs, and we are told that he
had an 'ice-cold hand.' Putting together these two
suggestions, discovering a significance in them, and
animating them with the breath of his own life, Shake-
speare created the brilliant figure which lights up the
first half of Romeo and Juliet, and disappears when the
colours become all too grave and sombre. Romeo has
accepted the great bond of love. Mercutio, with his
ice-cold hand, the lion among maidens, chooses above
all things a defiant liberty of speech,^jjly at war with_
the proprieties, an airy freedom of fancy, a careless and
masterful'bourage in dealing with life, as though it were
a matter of slight importance. He will not attach him-
self to either of the houses. He is invited b}' Capulet
to the banquet ; but he goes to the banquet in company
with Romeo and the Montagues. He can do generous
and disinterested things ; but he will not submit to the
trammels of being recognized as generous. He dies
maintaining his freedom, and defying death with a jesl.
To be made worm's meat of so stupidly, by a villain
that fights by the book of arithmetic, and through

xxvi ROMEO AND JULIET.

Romeo's awkwardness, is enough to make a man
impatient. * A plague o' both your houses ! ' [^he
/death of Merciitio is like th'e' removal of a sliittmg""'"*
breadth'oT sunlight which sparkles o^Jhe'sea ; nowjhe
clouds close in upon'mie°^nothei\and the stress of the

y -gale begiiisr^/To'tlTe Gi-erman critic Mercutio is "a
man without culture ; coarse, rude, and ugly ; a scornful
ridiculer of all sensibility and love, of all dreams and
presentiments ; a man who loves to hear himself talk,
and in the opinion of his noble friend ' will speak more
in a minute than he will stand to in a month.' " Does,
then, Shakespeare put into the mouih of " a man with-

- out culture " the splendid coruscations of fancy that
flash forth in Mercutio's description of Queen Mab and
her chariot ] Is there no poetry in the soul of one who
could conceive and embody images of so tine a fibre 1
For his ridicule, is it the ridicule of love and sensibility,
— or not rather ridicule of their sickly adumbiations
which his keen vision pierces in the morbid parade of
despair affected by Eomeo at Rosaline's repulse ? For
such affectations Mercutio's full-blooded vitality lias no
sympathy, for the annihilation of such unrealities no
engine seems to him better devised than unsparing
raillery. He Js ^ tinies__coarse no doubt, but mainly
with the c";?rgt^n'^s.s of unj;anieable_animal spirits a-tilt^
against maudlin sentimentality, opposing one kind of
extravagance by another, making, as it were, its protest
with a defiani^_a&(m(/(>«. irhe ugly ? well, he jocularly
confesses to the enormity of " beetle-brows " ; but this,
the sole hint that Shakespeare furnishes us Avitli, does
not seem to argue any terrible indictment. Does he
love to hear himself talk 1 The sin may be admitted,

INTRODUCTION. xxvii

but Eomeo's depreciation is merely an impromptu of
the moment meant to soothe the plumes of the Nurse
ruffled by boisterous disregard of would-be dignity ;
and there is nothing in the abundant flow of 3Iercutio's
sallies that is either rude, arrogant, malicious, or ego-
tistical. He lunges swiftly with the rapier of his wit,
but is no less ready to take thrust for thrust ''and so
part fair."

In Brooke's poem Juliet is called the "nurse-child,"
and it is to the fact that the old woman has been her
foster-mother that she owes what influence she possesses.
From their mutual relations it results that Juliet fails
to see that the fondness of which she is the object is
more the fondness of one conscious that her hold over
her " lady -bird " lies in compliance with each whim and
petty fancy, than any genuine love and care. The old
woman is no doubt proud of her charge, and in the
garrulity of old age, largely spiced with individual
coarseness, she dilates upon her services with a com-
placent feeling of satisfaction that whatever is good in
the girl had its origin in her nurture. She rejoices that
Juliet should be sought by Paris, not because she knows
anything of that suitor's fitness, but because it is a fine
thing for a maiden to have a lover. She is equally
rejoiced that Juliet should have fallen in love with
Romeo. She will help in the secret marriage, because it
is easier to do so than to refuse. When Juliet pours
forth her maledictions upon Romeo for the slaughter of
Tybalt, their echo is ready from the Nurse's tongue.
When Juliet's mood changes, the Nurse veers round
Avith an off"er to fetch Romeo. When the marriage
with Paris is decided upon by the parents it is plain to

xxviii ROMEO AND JULIET.

her that, poAver and authority being on their side, all
thought of resistance is out of the question. The sin of
taking a second husband while the first is still alive
does not seem so much as to pass before her mind.
Romeo and Juliet cannot come together, therefore it is
well that Paris and Juliet should :

" I think you ai'e happy in this second match,
For it excells your first : or if it did not,
Your first is dead, or 'twere as good he were
As liviaig here and you no use to him."

Believing from her behaviour on returning from the
Friar's cell that Juliet has seen her mistake and now
wisely acqixiesces in the inevitable, the Nurse makes no
more ado about the matter, but is up early in the
morning to deck the bride, when to her horror she finds,
as she supposes, that death has forbidden the banns of
an union that to lier had seemed so satisfactory a
solution of all difficulties, and her optimism receives
a shock that even she cannot misunderstand. Hitherto
the world has to her been the best of all possible worlds.
A trusted member of a high-born household, she fancies
her behaviour to be modelled on their example, ])lumes
herself on decorum, in her walks abroad must be
attended JjyJb-er own -servant, like her betters must be
careful of the proprieties of the fan, with due self-
respect must bridle at the familiarities of that " saucy
merchant," Mercutio, " so full of his ropery," and let it
be known to all men that she is "none of his flirt-gills."
She could stay all/ night to listen to the good counsel of
the Friar, and rapturously exclaims, "0, what learning
is ! " for the good counsel and learning chime in with

INTRODUCTION. xxix

the demands of the moment ; to her the fact that Romeo
will not dare to claim Juliet is an all-sufficient excuse
for casting him off ; £ner supreme law is expediencj^T
she recognizes no dictates higher than those of personal
colilenfment ; of loyalty, love, purity, self-sacrifice, she
is utterly ignorant, while believing all the time that
her rule of life is squared with every requirement of
rectitude.

The Montagues and the Capulets, though important
factors in the drama, do not fill up any great space in
the action. Both seem equally animated by the fierce
rivalry of the famil}' feud, but the former are Jn^_otlier
respects of a gentler type than the latter. They dearly
love their son, whose exile kills the mother, and whose
death well nigh breaks the father's heart. The Capulets
to the rancour of public hatred add a harsh repression
of family affection. The father, hasty, tyrannical, ^nd
vindictive when thwarted, seemj_to_hine l)ut little love
for his daughter, and is utterly without sympathy with,
or imderstanding of, her nature. His will must be~law
though it crush the heart of his child, and to gratify his
pride he is ready to sell that child to a kinsman of the
Prince. Yet he is not without his good points, but is
jovial and hospitable, and shows a chivalry of feeling
when the son of his hereditary foe comes uninvited to
his banquet. The mother, if she has something more of
love for her daughter, has no tenderness, and is eqrrally
impatient" of opposition. Many years her liusband's
junior, she has evTdently foTmd but little of wecIHed
happiness, and her proud h"eaTr"Mks~^r"ncrreposal of
trustfulness or interconrse' of" feeling. Her"cold tem-
perament is at the same time mixed with a passionate

XXX ROMEO AND JULIET„

resentment that is ready to poison Eomeo for the death
of her nephew, and she clearly would hesitate at nothing
to gratify revenge or sweep an obstacle from her path.
From neither has Juliet received much guidance, though
plenty of discipline, to neither can she look for help in a
difficulty of the heart or pardon of a transgression into
which that heart has led her.
Duration of ^ive da VS. The banquet of the Ca])ulets is on the

the action. j i i

Sunday ; on Monday afternoon the marriage takes place ;
on Tuesday at dawn we witness the parting of the
lovers ; the wedding with Paris, fixed for Thursday, is
hurried forward by a day ; on the night of Thursday
Juliet awakens at the tomb and the catastrophe comes.

EOMEO AND JULIET.

DRAMATIS PERSONS.

EsCALUS, prince of Verona.

Paris, a young nobleman, kinsman to the prince.

Montague,

D'

p rheads of two houses at variance with each other.

An old man, cousin to Capulet.

Romeo, son to Montague.

Mercutio, kinsman to the prince, and friend to Romeo.

Benvolio, nephew to Montague, and friend to Romeo.

Tybalt, nephew to Lady Capulet.

Friar Laurence,'

^Franciscans.

•}=

Friar John,

Balthasar, servant to Romeo.

Sampson, ") ^

GREG0RY,r^^^^^*"*°^^P"^^*-

Peter, servant to Juliet's nurse.

Abraham, servant to Montague.

An Apothecary.

Three Musicians.

Page to Paris ; another Page ; an Officer.

Lady Montague, wife to Montague.
Lady Capulet, wife to Capulet.
Juliet, daughter to Capulet.
Nurse to Juliet.

Citizens of Verona ; several Men and Women, relations to both
houses ; Maskers, Guards, Watchmen, and Attendants.

Chorus.

Scene : Verona ; Mantua.

^^vi- f^l'i- V^'^\.

ROMEO AND JULIET.

PROLOGUE.

Two households, both alike in dignity,

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene.
From ancient grvidge break to new mutiny,

Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
jVomforth the fatal loins of these two foes

A pair of star-cross'd lovers take their life ;
Whose misadventured piteous overthrows

Do with their death bury their parents' strife.
The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,

And the continuance of their parents' rage, 10

Which, but their children's end, nought could remove,

Is now the two hours' traffic of our stage ;
The which if you with patient ears attend,
^VTiat here shall miss, our toil shall strive to mend.

ACT I.

Scene I. Verona. A public place.

Enter Sampson a7id Gregory, of the hoiise of Capulet, armed
xoith sioords and bucklers.

Sam. Gregory, o' my word, we '11 not carry coals.
Gre. No, for then we should be colliers.
Sam. I mean, an we be in choler, we '11 draw.
C 3

4 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

(?re. Ay, while you live, draw your neck out o' the collar.

Sam. I strike quickly, being moved. ' o^-_i, /

Ore. But thou art not quickly moved to strike.
-^ w-KUxf' Sami fA dog of the house of Montague moves me.

Gre. To move is to stir ; and to be valiant is to stand :
therefore, if thou art moved, thou runn'st away.

Sam. A dog of that house shall move me to stand : I will
take the wall of any man or maid of Montague's. 11

G7-e. That shows thee a weak slave ; for the weakest goes
to the wall.

Sam. True ; and therefore women, being the weaker
vessels, are ever thrust to the wall : therefore I will push
Montague's men from the wall, and thrust his maids to the
wall.

Gre. The quarrel is between our masters and us their men.

' "^ Sam. 'Tis all one, I will show myself a tyrant : when I

have fought with the men, I will be cruel with the maids,

and cut off their heads. 21

Gre. Draw thy tool ; here comes two of the house of the
Montagues. ^^ ,-y/^.-.-^^ W/**'

Sam. My naked weapon is out : quarrel, I will back thee.

Gre. How ! turn thy back and run ?

Sam. Fear me not. '

Gre. No, marry ; I fear thee !

Sam. Let us take the law of our sides ; let them begin.

Gre. I will frown as I pass by, and let them take it as »
they list. 30

Sam. Nay, as they dare. I will bite my thumb at them ;
which is a disgrace to them, if they bear it.

Enter Abraham and Balthasar.

Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir 1

Sam. I do bite my thumb, sir.

Abr. Do you bite your thumb at us, sir ?

Sam. [Aside to Gre.] Is the law of our side, if I say ay ? i

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 5

Gre. No.

Sam. No, sir, I do not bite my thumb at you, sir, but I
bite my thumb, sir.

Gre. Do you quarrel, sir ? 40

Abr, Quarrel, sir ! no, sir.

Sam. If you do, sir, I am for you : I serve as good a man
as you.

Abr. No better.

Sam. Well, sir. „

Gre. Say ' better :' here comes one of my master's kinsmen.

Sam. Yes, better, sir.

Abr. You lie.

Sam. Draw, if you be men. Gregory, remember thy swash-
ing blow. {They fight. 50

Enter Benvolio.

Ben. Part, fools !

; you know not

[Beats down their swords.

Enter Tybalt.

Put up your swords ; you know not what you do.

Tyb. What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds ?
Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death.

Ben. I do but keep the peace : put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.

Tyb. What, drawn, and talk of peace ! I hate the word,
As T hate hell, all Montagues, and thee :
Have at thee, coward I [They fight.

Enter several of both houses, xoho join the fray ; then enter
Citizens, loith clubs.

First Git. Clubs, bills, and partisans ! strike ! beat them
down! -i--"-- 60

Down with the Capulets ! down with the Montagues !

6 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Enter Capulet in his gown, and Lady Capulet.

Cap. What noise is this ? Give me my long sword, ho !

La. Cap. A crutch, a crutch ! why call you for a sword ? S*^^

Cap. My sword, I say ! Old Montague is come, 'ih i^

And flourishes his blade in spite of me. .^rj-^^-^i U'-\^t<,\J^ ■ ^^

Enter Montague and Lady Montague. yW'

Mon. Thou villain Capulet, — Hold me not, let me go.
La. Mon. Thou shalt not stir a foot to seek a foe.

1

Enter Prince, with Attendants. j,

i , Prin. Rebellious subjects, enemies to peace,

(^ " Profaners of this neighbour-stained steel,— f

^ ^-y Will they not hear 1 What, ho ! you men, you beasts, 70
r (j^ That quench the fire of your pernicious mge c^J^^tu"^ ,y^^
'yy^ With purple fountains issuing from your veins.

On pain of torture, from those bloody liands

Throw your mistemper'd weapons to the ground.

And hear the sentence of your moved prince.

Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word,

_By thee, old Capulet. and Montague,

Have thrice disturb'd the quiet of our streets.

And made Verona's ancient citizens

C^st by their gi-ave beseeming ornaments, 80

To wield old partisans, in hands as old, ,-jv^^^

Cankered with peace, to part your canker'd liate : ^^
ever you disturb our streets again.

Your lives shall jmy the forfeit of thepeace^

"For this time, all the rest depart away :

You, Capulet, shall go along with me :

And, Montague, come you this afternoon.

To know our further pleasure in this case.

To old Free-town, our common judgement-place.

Once more, on pain of death, all men depart. 90

\_Exetint all but Montague, Lady Montague, and BenvoUo.

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 7

Hon. "VQio set this ancient quarrel new abroach ?
Sppak^ nephew, werfi yon hy when it began ?

Ben. Here were the servants of your adversary,
And yours, close fighting ere I did approach :
I drew to part them : in the instant came
The fiery_Tybalt, with his^sword prepared,
Which, as he breathed defiance to my ears.
He swung about his head and cut the winds,
Who nothing hurt withal hiss'd him in scorn ;
While we were interchanging thrusts and blows, 100

Came more and more and fought on part and part.
Till the prince came, who parted either part.

La. Moil. O, where is Romeo ? saw you him to-day ?
Right glad I am he was not at this f i;a^
■ Ben. Madam, an hour beforetlie worshipp'd sun
Peer'd forth the golden window of the east,
A troubled mind drave me to walk abroad ;
Where, underneath the grove of sycamore
That westward I'ooteth from the city's side,
So early walking did I see your son : 110

Towards him I made, but he was ware of me
And stole into the covert of the wood :

I, measuring his affections by my own, — i

Which then most sought where most might not be found, j
Pursued my humour not pursuing his, j

And gladly shunn'd who gladly fled from me. J

Mon. Many a morning hath he there been seen,
With tears augmenting tlie fresh morning's dew,
Adding to clouds more clouds with his deep sighs ;
BufalTsosoonas the all-cheering sun * 120

Should in the furthest east begin to draw «-s^' .j-yv*^*^
The shady curtains from Aurora's bed, '
Away from light steals home my heavy son,
And private in his chamber pens himself,
Shuts up his windows, locks fair daylight out ,-

And makes himself an artificial night : f,^->XC ^ ^^^ *^'^^

l'\i fi. f.l&^M,'^^

8 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Black and portentous must this humour prove, ^^ =.

Unless good counsel may the cause remove.

Ben. My noble uncle, do you know the cause ?

Moil. I neither know it nor can learn of him. 130

Ben. Have you importuned him by any means ?

Mon. Both by myself and many other friends :
But he, his own affections' counsellor.
Is to himself— I will not say how true —
But to himself so .secret and so close.
So far from sounding and discovery,
As is the bud bit with an envious wi)rm^
Ere he_can spread his sweet leaves to the air,^
Or dedicate his beauty to the sun.

Could we but learn from whence his sorrows grow^ 140

We would as willingly give cure_as kno^^.

Enter Romeo.

Ben. See, where he comes : so please you, step aside ;
I '11 know his grievance, or be much denied. ''^ ■

Mon. I would thou wert so happy by thy stay, aa^m^
To hear true shrift. Come, madam, let 's away.

,,^J^ \Exeunt Montague and Lady.

Ben. Good morrow, cousin. 1

Rom. '< Is the day so young ? • -

Ben. But new struck nine. t

Rom. Ay me ! sad hours seem long. "

Was that my father that went hence so fast ?

Ben. It was. What sadness lengthens Romeo's hours 1

Rom. Not having that, which, having, makes them short.

Ben. In love 1 151

Rom. Out —

Ben. Of love?

Rom. Out of her favour, where I am in love.

Ben. Alas, that love, so gentle in his view.
Should be so tyraimous and rough in proof !

Rom. Alas, that love, whose view is muffled still.

^—^

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET.

Should, without eyes, see pathways to his will !
Where shall we dine ? O me ! What fray was here ?
Yet tell me not, for I have heard it all. / 160

Here 's much to do with hate, but more with love.

hy, then, O brawling love ! O loving hate !
O any thing, of nothing first create 1
O heavy lightness ! serious vanity !
Mis-shapen chaos of well-seeming forms ! i f'f
Feather of lead, bright smoke, cold fire; sick health !
Still-waking sleep, that is not what it is ! '-''"'
This love feel I, that feel no love in this.
Dost thou not laugh ?

Be7i. No, coz, I ratlier weep.

^<> Rom. Good heart, at what ?

Ben. At thy good heart's oppression.

Rom. Why, such is love's transgression. 171

Griefs of mine own lie heavy in my breast,
Which thou wilt propagate, to have it prest
With more of thine : this love that thou hast .showri
Doth add more grief to too much of mine own.
) Love is a smoke raised with the fume of sighg ;
\ Being purged, a fire spai'kling in lovers' eyes ;
i Being vex'd, a sea nourish'd with lovers' tears :
6j .What is it else ? a madn£ss_niQat_discreet,

A choking gall and a preserving sweet. 180

Farewell, my coz.

Ben. Soft ! I will go along ;

An if you leave me so, you do me M^rong.

Rom. Tut, I have lost myself ; I am not here ;
This is not Romeo, he 's some other where.

Ben. Tell me in sadness, who is that you love.

Rom. What, shall I groan and tell thee ?

Ben. Groan ! why, no;

But sadly tell me who.

Ro7n. Bid a sick man in sadness make his will :
Ah, word ill urged to one that is so ill !

10 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

In sadness, cousin, I do love a woman. 190

Ben. I aim'd so near, when I supposed you loved.

Rom. A right good mark -man ! And she 's fair I love.

Ben. A right fair mark, fair coz, is soonest hit.

Rom. "Well, in that hit you miss : she'll not be hit
With Cupid's arrow ; she hath Diau's wit ;
And, in strong proof of chastity well arm'd,
tJri'^' From love's weak childish bow she lives unharm'd.
She will not stay the siege of loving terms.
Nor bide the encounter of assailing eyes,
Nor ope her lap to saint-seducing gold : 200

ij;J..j,y^^ O, she is rich in beaut>', only poor,

That when she dies with beauty dies her store.

Ben. Then she hath sworn that she will still live chaste ?

Rom. She hath, and in that sparing makes huge waste,
For beauty starved with her severity
Cuts beauty off from all posterity.
She_is too fair, too wise, wisely too fair, •
To merit bliss by making- me despair :
SJieJiath forsworn to love, and in that vow
Do I live dead that live to tell it now. 210

Ben. Be ruled by me, forget to think of her.

Rom. O, teach me how I should forget to think.

Ben. By giving liberty unto thine eyes ;
Examine other beauties.

Rom. 'Tis the way

To call hers^ exquisite, in question more :
These happy masks that kiss fair ladies' brows
Being black put us in mind they hide the fair ;
He that is strucken blind cannot forget ' » / ^

The precious treasure of his eyesight lost : ' ^ I

Show me a mistress^^iat is passing fair, > .ffV-'^Hvr

220

0"

The precious treasure of his eyesight lost :

What dotli her beavity^ serve, but as a note ^-^ s}'
Where I may read who pass'd that passing fair ?
Farewell : thou canst not teach me to forget.
Befb7 I '11 pay that doctrine, or else die in debt. \^EMunt.

J

SCENE IX.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 11

Scene II. A street.
Enter Capulet, Paris, and Servant.

Cap. But Montague is bgund as well as I,
In penalty alike ; and 'tis not hard, I think,
For men so old as we to keep the peace.

Par. Of honouraljle reckoning are you both ;
And pity 'tis you lived at odds so long.
But now, my lord, what say you to my suit ?

Cap. But saying o'er what I have said before :
■ ;^J^y child is yet a stranger in the world ;

. /"^he hatli not seen the change of fourteen years ;
jt;^ Let two moi-e summers wither in their pride, 10

Erejwe inavjthink her ripe to be a bride.

Par. Younger than she are happy mothers made.

Cap. And too soon marr'd are those so early made.
The earth hath swallow'ffall my hopes but she.
She is the hopeful lady of my earth :
But woo her, gentle Paris, get her heart,
My will to her consent is but a part ;
An she agree, within her scope of choice
Lies my consent and fair according voice.
This night I hold an j)ld"accustom'd ?east, " 20

Whereto I have invit'ed many a guest,
Such as I love ; and you, among the store,
One more, most welcome, makes my number more.
At my poorjiouse look to behold this nighto..^"'''^'^
Earth-treading stars that make dark heaven light :
Such comfort as do lusty young men feel
When well-apparell'd April on the heel
Of limping winter treads, even such delight
Among fresh female buds shall you this night
Inherit at my house ; hear all, all see, 30

And like her most whose merit most shall be :
Which, on more view of many, mine being one,
May stand in number, though in reckoning none.

12 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Come, go with me. [To Serv., giving a paper. "] Go, sirrah,

trudge about
Through fair Verona ; find those persons out , a'^s^)'^

Whose names are written there, and to them say,
My house and welcome on their pleasure stay. 37

[Exeunt Cajmlet and Paris.
Serv. Find them out whose names are written here ! It is \0^^
written, that the shoemaker„should meddle withhis }'arij, and
the tailor with his last, the ^sher_witli_hispencnjfUKf th^
painter withj^iis nets ; but I am sent to find those persons
whose names are here writ, and can never find what names
the writing person hath here writ. I must to the learned.—
In good time.

Enter Benvolio and Eomeo.

Ben. Tut, man, one fire burns out another's burning,
One pain is lessen'd by another's anguish ;
Turn giddy, and be holp by backward turning ;
One desperate grief cures with another's languish :
/ Take thou some new infection to thy eye,\
\^ And the_rank poison of the old will die.^ J 60

Rom. Your plaintain-leaf is excellent for that.
Ben. For what, I pray thee ?

Rom. For your broken shin.

Ben. Why, Romeo, art thou mad ?
Rom. Not mad, but bound more than a madman is ;
/ Shut up in prison, kept without my food,

Whipp'd and tormented and — God-den, good fellow.
Serv. God gi' god-den. I pray, sir, can you read ?
I Rom. Ay, mine own fortune in my misery. ,^ »va/\n ""^

u^/^w't Serv. Perha]3s you have learned it without book : but, I
1^*^ pray, can you read any tlinig you see '/ ' 60

Rom. Ay, if I know the letters and the language.
Serv. Ye say honestly : rest you merry !
Rom. Stay, fellow ; I can read. [Reads.

' Siguior Martino and his wife and daughters ; County

SCENE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 13

Anselme and his beauteous sisters ; the lady widow of
Vitruvio ; Signior Placentio and his lovely nieces ; Mer-
cutio and his brother Valentine ; mine uncle Capulet, his
wife, and daughters ; my fair niece Rosaline ; Livia ; Signior
Yalentio and his cousin Tybalt ; Lucio and the lively Helena.'
A fair assembly ; whither should they come ? 70

Serv. Up.
Rom. Whither ?
Serv. To supper ; to our house.
Rom. Whose house ?
Serv. My master's.

Rmn. Indeed, I should have ask'd you that before.
Serv. Now I '11 tell you without asking : my master is the
great rich Capulet ; and if you be not of the house of Mon-
tagues, I pray, come and crush a cup of wine. Rest you
merry ! [Exit. 80

Beiu At this same ancient feast of Capulet's
Sups the fair Rosaline whom thou so lovest,
With all the admired beauties of Verona :
Go thitheiv^_andjjwithunattainted eye,
Compare her face with some that r"sliall show.
And I will make thee think thy^ypi acmw.
Rom. When the devout religion of mine eye

Maintains such falsehood, then turn tears to fires ;
And these, who often drown'd could never die,

Transparent heretics, be burnt for liars ! 90

One fairer than my love ! the all-seeing sun
u , ^ Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun.
Ben. Tut, you saw her fair, none else being by.
Herself poised with herself in either eye :
But in that crystal scales let there be weigh'd
Your lady's love against some other maid
That I will show you shining at this feast.
And she shall scant show well that now shows best.

Rom. I '11 go along, no such sight to be shown,
But to rejoice in splendour of mine own. [Exeunt. 100

14 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Scene III. A room in Capulefs house.

Enter Lady Capulet and Nurse.

■^ La. Cap. Nurse, where 's my daughter ? call her forth to me.
Nurse. I bade her come. What, lamb ! what, lady -bird !
God forbid ! Where 's this girl ? What, Juliet !

Enter Juliet.

Jul. How now ! Who calls ?

Nurse. Your mother.

Jul. Madam, I am here.

What is your will ? , ^

La. Cap. This is the matter : — Nurse, give leave awhile,
We must talk in secret : — nurse, come back again ;
I have remember'd me, thou's hear our counsel.
Thou know'st my daughter's of a pretty age. 'W^"

N^irse. Faith, I can tell her age unto an hour. 10

La. Cap. She 's not fourteen.

Nurse. I '11 lay f ouiteen of my teeth, —

And yet, to my teen be it spoken, I have but four, —
She is not fourteen. How long is it now
To Lammas-tide ?

La. Cap. A fortnight and odd days.

Nurse. Even or odd, of all days in the year,
V Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen.

•p^ Susan and she — God rest all Christian souls ! —
Were of an age : well, Susan is with God ;
She was too good for me : but, as I said, ^,-
On Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen ; j 20

That shall she, marry ; I remember it well. i
'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years ; <— ^
And she was wean'd, — i never shall forget it, —
Of all the~3aysof the year, upon that day :.
For I had then laid wormwood to my dug.
Sitting in the sun under the dove-house wall ;

SCENE in.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 15

My lord and you were then at Mantua : —

Nay, T do hear a Ijrain :— but, as I said.

When it did taste the wormwood^on_the nipple

Of my dug and felt it bitter, pretty fool, 30

To see it tetchy and fall out with the dug !

|_Shake ' quoth the doveJ[iouse : 'twas no need, I trow,

To bid me trudge :

And since that time it is eleven years ;

For then she could stand alone ; nay, l\v the rood.

She could Jiave run and waddled all about ;

For even the day before, she broke her brow.

La. Cap. Enough of this ; I pray thee, hold thy peace.

Nurse. Peace, I have done. God mark thee to his grace !
Thou wast the prettiest babe that e'er I nursed : 40

An I might live to see thee married once,
I have my wish.

La. Cap. Marry, that ' marry ' is the very theme
I came to talk of. Tell me, daughter Juliet,
How stands your disposition to be married ? )

Jul. It is an honour that I dream not of. ^

Niorse. An honour ! were not I thine only nurse,
I would say thou hadst suck'd wisdom from thy teat.
^.^^^ La. Cap. Well, think of marriage now ; younger than you,
Here in Verona, ladies of esteem, 50

Are made already mothers : by my count,
I was your mother much upon these years
*^That you are now a maid. Thus then in brief :
The valiant Paris seeks you for his love.

Nurse. A man, young lady ! lady, such a man
As all the world — why, he 's a man of wax.

La. Cap. Verona's summer hath not such a flower. ~

Nurse. Nay, he 's a flower ; in faith, a very flower.

La. Cap. What say you ? can you love the gentleman ?
This night you shall behold him at our feast ;
Eead o'er the volume of young Paris' face
And find delight writ there with beauty's pen ;

60

16 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Examine every married lineament

And see how one another lends content, '"-

And what obscured in this fair volume lies

Find written in the margent of his eyes.

This precious book of love, this unbound lover,

To beautify him, only lacks a cover ; u,^^ ^ ,1

The £j^ lives in_tlie sea, and 'tis much pride j^^ii^it!^

For fair witliout the fair within to hide : - TO

That_book_in many's eyes doth share the glory.

That in gold clasps locks in the golden story ;

So shall you share all that he doth possess, ,;., / ^ l^

By having him, making yourself no less.

Speak briefly, can you like of Paris' love ?

Jul. I '11 look to like, if looking liking move :
But no more deep will I endart mine eye
Than your consent gives strength to make it fly 78

Enter a Servant.

Serv. Madam, the guests are come, sagger served up, you
called, my young lady asked for, the nurse cursed in the
pantry, and every thing in extremity. I must hence to wait ; ■
I beseech you, follow straight.

La. Cap. We follow thee. [E.vit Servant.] Juliet, the
county stays.

Nurse. Go, girl, seek happy nights to happy days. [Exeunt.

Scene IV. A street.

Enter Romeo, Mercutio, Benvolio, loith five or six
Maskers, Torch-bearers, and others.

Rom. What, shall this speech be spoke for our excuse ?
Or shall we on without apology 1

Ben. The date is out of such prolixity :
We '11 have no Cupid hoodwink'd with a .scarf,
Bearing a Tartar's painted bow of lath, ,i

SCENE IV.] ROMEO AND JULIET. jy

Scaring the ladies like a crow-keeper ;

Nor no without-book prologue, faintly spoke

After the prompter, for our entrance :

But let them mpasnre us by what thev will ;

We '11 nieasure them a measure, and be gone. 10

Rom. Give me a torch : I am not for this ambline :
Being but heavy, I will bear the light. ...

Jiier. JNay, gentle Romeo, we must have you dance.

Rom. Not I,Jjeli£xa-m£j_jx)u have dancing slmps
With nimb!e"sQles : I have a soul of lead
So stakes me to the ground I cannot move. • '

Mer. You are a lover ; borrow Cupid's wings,
Anjijpar~wrth them~a5ove a commonljound?""

Bom. I am too sore eupierced with his shaft * *^^^'
To soar with his light feathers, and so bound, ' 20

I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe :
XJnd£rjovels_heavy_burden do I sink.

J/e?-. And, to sink in it, should you burden love ;
Too great oppression for a tender thing.

Rom. Is love a tender thing ? it is too rough, ^'^ fy^^*-^^^^
ToQ-mdeTtoo boisterous, and it pricks like thorn..^ ■ . ^

^fer. If love be rough with you, be rough with love ; [ti^"^
PrickJoye.for pricking, and you beat love down.
Give me a case to put my visage in :

A visor for a visor ! what care I 30

What curious eye doth quote deformities ?
Here are the beetle brows shall blush for me.

Ben. Come, knock and enter ; and no sooner in.
But every man betake him to his legs.

Rom. A torch for me : let wantons light of heart
Tickle the senseless rushes with their heels,
For I am proverb'd with a grandsire phrase ;
I '11 be a candle-holder, and look on.
The game was ne'er so fair, and I am done.

Mer. Tut, dun 's the mouse, the constable's own word : 40
If thou art dun, we '11 draw thee from the mire

B

18 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

^ )
Of this sir-reverence love, wherein thou stiek'st
Up to the ears. Come, we burn daylight, ho !

Rom. Nay, that 's not so.

Mer. I mean, sir, in delay

We waste our lights in vain, light lights by day.
Take our good meaning, for our judgement sits
Five times in that ere once in our five wits.

Rom. And we mean well in going to this mask ;
But 'tis not wit to go.

Mer. Why, may one ask ?

Ro7n. I dream'd a dream to-night.

jj/g^. And so did I. "HD

Rom. Well, what was yours ?

jj^gf^ That dreamers often lie.

Rom. In bed asleep, while they do dream things true.
^ Mer. 0, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes !.< ; lu

In .shape no bigger than an agate-stone
On the fore-finger of an alderman,
Drawn with a team of little atomies
Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep ;
Her waggon-spokes made of long spinners' legs.
The cover of the wings of grasshoppers, 60 .j

The traces of the smallest spider's web,
The collars of the moonshine's watery beams.
Her whip of cricket's bone, the lash of film,
Her waggoner a small grey-coated gnat,
Not half so big as a round little worm
Prick'd from the lazy finger of a maid ;
Her chariot is an empty hazel-nut
Made by the joiner squirrel or old grub.
Time out o' mind the fairies' coachmakers.
And in this state she gallops niglit by night 70

Through lovers' brains, and then they dream of love ;
O'er courtiers' knees, that dream on court'sies straight.
O'er lawyers' fingers, who straight dream on fees,

scEXE n^] RO^rEO AND JULIET. 19

O'er ladies' lips, who straight on kisses dream,
Which oft the angry Mab with blisters plagues.
Because their breaths with sweetmeats tainted are : ,
Sometime she gallops o'er a courtier's nose,
And then dreams he of smellinif out a suit :
And sometime comes she with a tithe-pig's tail
Tickling a parson's nose as a' lies asleep, 80

Then dreams he of another benefice :
Sometime she driveth o'er a soldier's neck,
And then dreams he of cutting foreign throats,
Of breaches, ambuscadoes, Spanish blades, 1~

Of healths five-fathom deep ; and then anon . -^^Aj^^^-X vX

.Drums in his ear. at which he starts and wakes,
And being thus frighted swears a prayer or two
And sleeps again. This is that very Mab
That plats the manes of horses in the night,
And bakes the elf-locks in foul sluttish hairs, 90

Which once untangled much misfortune bodes :
This is she —

Rom. Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace !

Thou taik'st of nothing.

Mer. True, I talk of dreams,

Which are the children of an idle brain, '^ . {^

Begot of nothing but vain fantasy, p>j[^'vT

j Which is as thin of substance as the air
I And more inconstant than the wind, who wooes
Even now the frozen bosom of the north, »jr »#.«»-^ v« ■*■■■* '•■^~ "
And, being anger'd, puffs away from thence.
Turning his face to the dew-dropping .south >^^7^^ 100

Ben. Tliis wind, you talk of, blows us from ourselves ;
Supp^r-^done, and we shall come too late.^1

Rom. I fear, too early : for my mind misgives
Some consequence yet hanging in the stars
Shall bitterly begin his fearful date
With this night's revels and expire the term
Of a despised life closed in my breast

20 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

By some vile forfeit of untimely death.
But He, that hath the steerage of my course,
Direct my sail ! On, lusty gentlemen. 110

Ben. Strike, drum. [^Exeunt.

ScENK Y. A hall in Capulefs house.
Musicians waiting. Enter Servingmen, with napkins.

First Seri\ Where 's Potpan, that he helps not to take
away 1 He shift a trencher ? he .scrape a trencher ?

Sec. Serv. When good manners shall lie all in one oi' two
men's hands and they unwashed too, 'tis a foul thing.

First Sei'v. Away with the joint-stools, remove the court-
cupboard, look to the plate. Good thou, save me a piece of
marchpane ; and, 'as thou lovest me, let the porter let in
Susan Grindstone and Nell. Antony, and Potpan !

Sec. Serv. Ay, boy, ready.

First Serv. You are looked for and called for, asked for
and sought for, in the great chamber. 11

Sec. Serv. We cannot be here and there too. Cheerly,
boys ; be brisk awhile, and the longer liver take all.

Enter Capulet, with Juliet and others of his house, meeting
the Guests and Maskers.

Cap. Welcome, gentlemen ! ladies that have their toes
Unplagued with corns will have a bout with you. -^'^

Ah ha, my mistresses ! which of you all
Will now deny to dance ? she that makes dainty,
She, I '11 swear, hath corns ; am I come near ye now ? Y^

Welcome, gentlemen ! I have seen the day
That I have worn a visor and could tell 20

A whispering tale in a fair lady's ear.
Such as would please : 'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone :
You are welcome, gentlemen ! Come, musicians, play.
A hall, a hall ! give room ! and foot it, girls. i

[Micsic plai/s, and they dance.

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 21

More light, you knaves ; and turn the tables up,

And quench the fire, the room is grown too hot. *

Ah, sirrah, this unlook'd-for sjwrt comes well.

Nay, sit, nay, sit, good cousin Capulet ;

For you and I are past our dancing days :

How long is 't now since last yourself and I 30

Were in a mask ?

Sec. Cap. By 'r lady, thirty years.

Cap. What, man ! 'tis not so much, 'tis not so much :
'Tis since the nuptial of Lucentio,
Come pentecost as quickly as it will, '■'<^' ^'^^
Some five and twenty years ; and then we mask'd.

Sec. Cap. 'Tis more, 'tis more : his son is elder, sir ;
His son is thirty.

Cap. Will you tell me that ? ■^.vii/^a./'

His son was but a ward two years ago.

Rom. [To a Servingmani What lady is that, which doth
enrich the hand
Of yonder knight 1 40

Serv. I know not, sir.

Rom. O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright !
It seems she hangs upon the cheek of night
Like a rich jewel in an Ethiope's ear ;
Beauty too rich for use, for earth too dear !
So shows a snowy dove trooping with crows, rv ^^jXtK
As yonder lady o'er her fellows shows.
The measure done, I '11 watch her place of stand,
And, touching hers, make blessed my rude hand.
Did my heart love tilljv^w^nrswar it-,, .sig^'^"' V^ 50

For I ne'er saw true"beaut\' till tliis niolit — ^^

Tyb. This, by his voice, should be a Montague.
Fetch me my rapier, boy. What dares the slave
Come hither, cover'd with an antic face,
To fleer and scorn at our solemnity ? I.,. '
Now, by the stock and honour of ray kin,
To strike him dead I hold it not a sin.

22 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

Cap. Why, how now, kinsman ! wherefore storm you so ?

Tyh. Uncle, this is a Montague, our foe,
A villain that is hither come in spite, 60

To scorn at our solemnity this night.

Cap. Young Romeo is it ?

Tyh. 'Tis he, that villain Romeo.

Cap. Content thee, gentle coz, let him alone ;
He bears him like a portly gentleman ;
And, to say truth, Verona brags of him
To be a virtuous and well-govern'd youth :
I would not for the wealth of all the town
Here in my house do him disparagement :
Therefore be patient, take no note of him :
It is my will, the which if thou respect, 70

Show a fair presence and put off these frowns.
An ill-beseeming semblance for a feast.

Tyb. It fits, when such a villain is a guest :
I '11 not endure him.

Cap. He shall be endured •

_Wlia.t, g-ondman boy ! I sav, lift sli'vH • p'l tn ;
Ami the master here, or you ? go to._
You '11 not endure him ! God shall mend my soul !
You '11 make a mutiny among my guests !
You will set cock-a-hoop ! you '11 be the man !

Tyh. Why, uncle, 'tis a shame.

Cap. Go to, go to ; 80

You are a saucy boy : is 't so, indeed ?
This trick may chance to scathe you, — I know what :
You must contrary me ! marry, 'tis time.
Well said, my hearts ! You are a princox ; go :
Be quiet, or — More light, more light ! For shame !
I '11 make you quiet. What, cheerly, my hearts !

Tyh. Patience perforce with wilful choler meeting
Makes my flesh tremble in tlieir different greeting.

yVW*'

,'»>■

^ — ^

, I will withdraw ; but this intrusion sliall

Now seeming sweet convert to bitter gall, m [^Exit.

90

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 23

Ro7n. {To Juliet] If I profane with my unworthiest hand
This holy shrine, the gentle fine is this :
My lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand
To smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.
Jul. Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much,
iAi^v^i <v Which mannerly devotion shows in this ;

For saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch,
And paiigjto palm is holypalmei's' kiss. Z
Rom. Have not saintsTtfKTand Eoly palmers too ?
Jul. Ay, pilgrim, lips that they must use in prayer. 100
Rom. O, then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do ;
.1^ ^Tt^i .. They pray, grant thou, lest faith turn to despair,
Jul. Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake.

Rom. Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take.

Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged.
Jill. Then have my lips the sin that they have took.
Rom. Sin from my lips 1 O trespass sweetly urged !

Give me my sin again.
Jul. You kiss by the book.

Nurse. Madam, your mother craves a word with you.
Rom. What is her mother ? "^'^-^ v '^'^f '^-' -
Nurse. Marry, bachelor, 110

Her mother is the lady of the house,
And a good lady, and a wise and virtuous :
I nursed her daughter, that you talk'd withal ;
I tell you, he that can lay hold of her
Shall have the chinks.
Rom. Is she a Capulet ?

0 dear account ! my life is my foe's debt.

Ben. Away, be gone ; the sport is at the best.

Rom. Ay, so I fear ; the more is my unrest.

Cap. Nay, gentlemen, prepare not to be gone ;
We have a trifling foolish banquet towai-ds. 120

Is it e'en so ? why, then, I thank you all ;

1 thank you, honest gentlemen ; good night.
More torches here ! Come on then, let 's to bed.

24 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i. sc. v.

A3% sirrah, by my fay, it waxes late :

I'll to my rest. [Exeunt all hut Juliet and Nurse.

Jul. Come hither, nurse. What is yond gentleman ?

Nurse. The son and heir of old Tiberio.

Jul. What 's he that now is going out of door ?

Nurse. Marry, that, I think, be young Petrucio.

Jul. What 's he that follows there, that would not dance ?

Nurse. I know not. 131

Jul. Go, ask his name : if he be married.
My grave is like to be my wedding bed.

Nurse. His name is Romeo, and a Montague ;
The only son of your great enemy.

Jid. My only lovTsprung f i^om my only hate '■
(Too early seen unknown, and known too latej_
'Prodigiousljirth of love it is to me.
That I must love a loathed enemy.
"Nurse. What 's this 1 what 's this ?

Jid. A rhyme I learn'd even now.

Of one I danced withal. [One calls within ' Juliet.'

Nurse. Anon, anon ! '^-^ ^^"

Come, let 's away ; the strangers all are gone. [E.veu7it.

ACT II.

PROLOGUE.

f Enter Chorus. ,

C/wr. Now old desire doth in his death-bed lie.

And young aflfection gapes to be his heir ; l>.<^^"
That fair for which love groan'd for and would die,

With tender Juliet match'd, is now not fair.
Now Romeo is beloveclTa^ loves again^
trni ** Alike bewitched"By~the charm oT'looks, ,;_^ \^i^^

But to his foe supposedTie must complain,

And she steal love's sweet bait from tearful hooks :

ACT 11. PROLOGUE.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 25

Being held a foe, he may not have access
^ To_breatlie such vows as lovers use to swearj 10

And she as much in love, her means much less
' To meet her new-beloved any where :
li But passion lends them power,T)time means, to meet.
Tempering extremities with extreme sweet. [^Exit.

Scene I. A lane hy the wall of Capulefs orchard.

Enter Eomeo.

Rom. Can I go forward when my heart is here .'
Turn back, dull earth, and find thy centre out.

[iTe climbs the wall, and leaps down within it.

Enter Benvolio ami Mercutio.

Ben. Romeo ! my cousin Romeo !

Mer. He is wise ;

And, on my life, hath stol'n him home to bed. ,. ^^

Ben. He ran this way, and leap'd this orchard wall :
Call, good Mercutio.

Mer. Nay, I '11 conjure too.

Romeo ! humours ! madman ! passion ! lover !
Api^ear thou in the likeness of a sigh : U luu.^
Speak but one rhyme, and I am satisfied ;
Cry but ' Ay me ! ' pronounce but ' love ' and ' dove ; 10

t^*"^ Speak to my gossip Venus one fair word,
Ai^^ One nick-name for her purblind son and heir.
Young Adam Cupid, he that shot so trim, -^^^h^
When King Cophetua loved the beggar-maid ! "i^,
He heareth not, he stirreth not, he moveth not ;
The ape is dead, and I must conjure him. Im^ ■^4^.1^
I conjure thee by Rosaline's bright eyes.
By her high forehead and her scarlet lip.
That in thy likene.ss thou appear to us !

Ben. An if he hear thee, thou wilt anger hiiu. 20

26 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act n.

3

Mer. This cannot anger him : my invocation
Is fair and honest, and in his mistress' name
I conjure only but to raise up him.

Ben. Come, he hath hid himself among these trees.
To be consorted with the humorous night :
Blind is his love and best befits the dark.

Mer. If love be blind, love cannotJiitJ-.h(^ marlj^ /

Romeo, good jiight : I '11 to my truckle-bed ; :
This field-bed is too cold for me to sleep : ^

I^me, shall we go ?

Ben. Go, then ; for 'tis in vain 30

To seek him here that means not to be found. \Exeunt.

Scene II. Capulets orchard.

Enter Romeo.

Rom. He jests at scars that never felt a wound.

\Jnliet appears above at a windoto.

But, sj)ft ! what light through yonder window breaks ?

It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.
/ Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, /u<) - - -
L "Whois already sick and pale with grief,
) That thou her maid art far more fair than she :
j Be not her maid, since she is envious ;

Her vestal livej'y is but sick and green

And none but fools do wear it ; cast it off.

It is my lady, O, it is my love ! 10

O, that she knew she were !

She speaks, yet she says nothing : what of that '/

Her eye discourses ; I will answer it.

I am too bold, 'tis not to me she speaks :

Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven,

Having some business, do entreat her eyes

To twinkle in their spheres till they return.

What if her eyes were there, they in her head ?

SCEXE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 27

The brightness of her cheek would sliame those stars,

As daylight doth a lamp ; her eyes in heaven 20

"Would through the airv region sti-eam so brifjht

That birds would sing and think it were not night.

See, how she leans her cheek upon her hand !

O, that I were a glove upon that hand,

That I might touch that cheek !

Jid. Ay me !

Rom. She speaks :

O, sj^eak again, bright angel ! for thou art
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head,
As is a winffed messenger of heaven

Unto the white-uptui'iied wondering eyes >.. .^^

Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him 30

When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds
And sails upon the bosom of the air. ^

Jul. O Romeo, Romeo ! wherefc/re art £hou Romeo ? '
Deny thy father and refuse thy name ; < vA^vr
I Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love.
I And I '11 no longer be a Capulet.

K0'm7\_Aside\ Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this ?

Jul. 'Tis but thy name that is mv enemy ; \(^
Xhou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What 's Montague ? it is nor hand, nor foot, 40

Xor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name !
What 's in a name ? that which we call a rose
By am" other name would smell as sweet ;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
.Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Wij;,hniit. tliat title. Romeo^_doff thy name,
And for tliat name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.

Rom. I take thee at thy word :

Call me but love, and I '11 be new baptized ; 50

Henceforth I never will be Romeo.

$

■1 -'

-tA -

28 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

Jxil. What man ai't thou that thus bescreen'd in night
So stumblest on my counsel ? -V, .' ,

Rom. By a name "U-iAxlr iWt^/*--'

I know not how to tell thee who I am :
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself.
Because it is an enemy to thee ;
Had I it written, I would tear the word.

Jul. My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound :
Art thou not Romeo and a Montague ? 60

Rom. Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike. /

Jul. How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore ?
^The orchard walls are high and hard t.n nlhul-.^ ^^X'O'*^ cJL
vAndthe place death,jconsideriiig_ who thou art, ijW U-*"^"^-^ '
If any of mv kinsmen find thee here.

Rom. With love's light wings did I o'er-perchjhftsfi walisi ;
For stonv limits cannot hold lovft nu<-.^
And what love can do that dares love attempt ;
Therefoi'e thy kinsmen are no let to me.

Jul. If they do see thee, they will murder thee. 70

Rom. Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than_twenty of their swords : look thou but swee.t,
And I am proof against their enmity.

Jul. I would not for the world they saw thee here.

Rom. I have night's cloak to hide me fi-om tlieir sight ;
^ And but thou love me, let them find me here :
My life were better ended by their hate.
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy love.

Jul. By whose direction found'st thou out this place ?

Rom. By love, who first did promjit me to inquire ; 80

He lent me counsel and I lent him eyes.
( I am no pilot ; yet, wert thou as far
^ As that vast shore wasli'd with the farthest sea,
1 1 would adventure for such merchandise.

Jul. Thou know'st the mask of night is on my face,
Else would a maiden blush bepaii,it my cheek

il*V|

I

SCENE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. ^9

For that which thou hast heard me speak to-night.
Fain would I dwell on form, fain, fain deny
What I have spoke : but farewell compliment !
Dost thou love me ? I know thou wilt say ' Ay,' 90

And I will take thy word : yet, if thou swe^r'st,
Thou mayst prove false. ; at lover's perjuries.
They say, Jove laughs. O gentle Romeo, ,sCw.*-« - '.. - • j
If thou dost love, pronounce it faithfully : ^ak^"*'- ■ ^^'i-
JDjlif thou think'st I am tnn qmV-Vly vjr,-,^^ ^^—^
I '11 frown and be perverse and say thee nay.
So thou wilt woo ; but else, not for the world.
In truth, fair Montague, I am too fond.
And therefore thou mayst think my 'haviour light :
But trust me, gentleman, I '11 prove more true 100

Than those that have more cunning to be strange. Qhj
I should have been more strange, I must confess, ■/
But that thou overheard'st, ere I was ware,
My true love's passion : therefore pardon me,
And not impute this yielding to light love,
Which the dark nip^ht h^th 1"^ rligpAvt^rprl _

Rom. Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear
That tips with silver allthese fruit-tree tops —

Jul. O, swear not by the moon, the inconstant moon.
That monthly changes in her circled orb, 110

Lest that thy love prove likewise variable.

Rom. What shall I swear by ?

Jul. Do not swear at all ;

Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self,
Which is the god of my idolatry.
And I '11 believe thee.

Rom. If my heart's dear love —

^ Jul. Well, do not swear : although I joy in thee,
I have no joy of this contract to-night : 1

Lt is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden : "X. i.^- ^'•'

Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be\

■ ^ ^ "' — *

Ere one can say 'It lightens? Sweet, good night ! 120

30 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

This bud of love, by sunmier's ripening breath,
May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet.
Good night, good night ! as sweet repose and rest
Come to thy heart as that within my breast !
Rom. O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied 1
Jul. What satisfaction canst thou have to-night ?
Rom. The exchange of thy love's faithful vowJFor mine.
Jul. I gave thee mine before thou didst request it :
And yet I would it were to give again. 129

Rom. Wouldst thou withdraw it ? for what purpose, love ?
J^d. But to be frank, and give it thee again.
And yet I wish but for the thing I have : Vvcv *<^*v>.'*yiKi-c£c.^.<-
My bounty is as boundless as the sea,
^MyTove a.s deep ; the moi-e I give to thee,

The more I have, for both are infinite. ^Nurse calls within.
_T hear some noise within ] dear love, adieu !
Anon, good nurse ! Sweet Montague, be true.
Stay but a little, I will come again. [Exit, above.

C Rom. O blessed, blessed night ! I am afeard,
/Being in night, all this is but a dream, 140

J Too flattering-sweet to be substantial.

Re-enter Juliet, above.

Jul. Three words, dear Romeo, and good night indeed.
If that thy bent of love be honourable.
Thy purpose marriage, send me word to-morrow,
By one that I '11 procure to come to thee,
Where and what time thou wilt perform the rite ;
And all my fortunes at thy foot I '11 lay
And follow thee my lord throughout the world.

Nurse. [ Within'] Madam !

Jill. I come, anon. — But if thou mean'st not well, 150

I do beseech thee —

Nurse. [ Within] Madam !

Jul. By and by, I come : —

SCENE 11.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 31

To cease thy suit, and leave me to luy grief :
To-morrow will I send.

Rom. So thrive my soul —

Jul. A thousand times good night ! \^E.vit, above.

Rom. A thousand times the worse, to want thy light.
Love goes toward love, as schoolboys from their books,
But love from love, toward school with heavy looks.

[Retiring.

Re-enter Juliet, above.

Jul. Hist ! Eomeo, hist ! 0, for a falconer's voice,
To lure this tassel-gentle back again ! 160

Bondage is hoarse, and may not speak aloud ; '^'^ '-
Else would I tear the cave where Echo Ijaa^
And make her airy tongue more hoarse thanmiue,
^With repetition ofmy" ITomeoVname.

Ttom. It is my soul that calls upon my name :
How silver-sweet sound lovers' tongues by night,
Like softest music to attending ears ! ,

Jul. Eomeo !

Rom. My dear ?

Jtil. At what o'clock to-morrow

Shall I send to thee ?

Rom. At the hour of nine.

Jul. I will not fail : 'tis twenty years till then. 170

I have forgot why I did call thee back.

7^0?/!. Let me stand here till thou remember it.

Jul. I shall forget, to have thee still stand there,
Remembering how I love thy company.

Rom. And I '11 still stay, to have thee still forget,
Forgettin<:r anv other home but this.

Jid. 'Tis almost morning ; I would have thee gone :
And yet no further than a wanton's bird ; ,m*-aA***-»"«^
Who lets it hop a little from her hand.

Like a poor prisoner in his twisted gyves, : •' 180

And with a silk thread plucks it back again,

32 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

So loving- jealous of his liberty.

Rom. I would I were thy bird.

Jul. Sweet, so would I :

Yet I should kill thee with much cherishing.
Good night, good night ! parting is such sweet sorrow.
That I shall say good night_tilLLbJ3e-4ttoiu:o^ft'. \^Ex{t above.

Rom. Sleep dwell upon thine eyes, peace in thy breast !
Would I were sleep and peace, so sweet to rest !
Hence will I to ray ghostly father's cell, s l-^-'i^'^U^M r
His help to crave, and my dear hap to tell. [Exit. 190

Scene III. Friar Laurence^ Cell.
Enter Friar Laurence, with a basket.
I Fri. L. The grey-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night,

C)^-^

1

Chequering the eastern clouds with streaks of light,
And flecked darkness like a drunkard reels
From forth day's path and Titan's fiery wheels : 3 ^^t^-**-
Now, ere the sun advance his burning eye,
/ The day to cheer and night's dank dew to dry,
I must up-fill this osier cage of ours Jj*^wl»>Jr

♦♦i*-*"^*- With balefiil weeds and precious- juiced flowers.

The earth that's nature's mother is,^ier tomb ; (fj--^ '■
What is her burying grave that is^her Avomb, a-*--^'- 10

"■^tiu^^ And from her womb children of divers kind
We sucking on her natural bosom find,
Many for many virtues excellent, .^o^)-^*"*'
None but for some and yet all different. ^_^ ^ [^

O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies axy-*^^ "

,..vA.f J In herbs, plants, stones, and their true qualities :
For nought so vile that on the earth doth live/
But to the earth some special good doth give, I
Nor aught so good but sti'ain'd from that fair use^
Revolts from true birth, stumbling on abuse : / 20

Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied ;

SCENE III.] EOMEO AND JULIET. 33

And vice sometimes by action dignified.
"Within the infant rind of this small flower
Poison hath residence and medicine power :
For this, being smelt, with that part cheers each part ;
_Being tasted, slays all senses with the heart.

Twosucli opposed kings encamp them still ^ul^^t*^ ^'•X^ \\»i^a «j>'— ^
Injnanas well as herbs, grac^ ''"^j T]]f]p ^yjl' • ^>'^**-^'^ tAjrtS'- -^^
And where the worser is jaredominant,
Full soon the canker death eats un that. pla]^|- 30

Enter Eomeo^

Rom. Good morrow, father.

■Fri. L. Benedicite !

What early tongue so sweet saluteth me ?
Young son, it argues a distemper'd head
So soon to bid good morrow to thy bed :
Care keeps his watch on every old man's eye.
And where care lodges, sleep will never lie ; T

But where uiibjoiised youth with unstuft''d brain I
Doth couch his limbs, there golden sleep doth reign :
Therefore thy earliness doth me assure

Thou art up-roused by some distemperature ; 40

Or if not so, then here I hit it right.
Our Eomeo hath not been in bed to-night.

Rom. That last is true ; the sweeter rest was mine.

Fn. L. God pardon sin ! wast thou with Rosaline ?

Rom. "With Eosaline, my ghostly father ? no ;
I have forgot that name, and that name 's woe. M

Fri. L. That 's my good son ; but where hast thou been, ^ ^
then ?

Rom. I '11 tell thee, ere thou ask it me again.
I have been feasting with mine enemy, _
IWhere on a sudden one hath wounded me, _ - 50

That 's by me wounded : both our remedies
"Within thy help and holy physic lies :

u

34

ROMEO AND JULIET.

[act II.

i^<X^f'<-

I bear no hatred, blessed man, for, lo,

Mj intercession likewise steads my foe. ^^'^■^ '

Fri. L. Be plain, good son, and homely in thy drift ;
Riddling confession finds but riddling shrift.

Rom. Then plainly know my heart's dear love is set
On the fair daughter of rich Capulet :
As mine on hers, so hers is set on mine ;
And all combined, save what thou must combine
^y holy marriage ; w^heu and where and how
We met^_we_woo'd and made exchange of vow.
"l '11 tellthee as~we j)ass ; but_this i pray^
' That thoucoiisent to marry us to-day. V- "

Fri. L. Hojv_SaintFrancis. what a change is here !
Is Rosaline^hom thoiTdidst love so dear,
s So soon f ors^jjlLypung men'Tlove thenjies \
\ Nnt. truly in t.heir hearts, but in their eyes. ^
' Jesu Maria, what a deal of brine
" Hath wash'd tln_sallow cheeks for Rosaline !
How much salt water thrown away m waste,
To season love, that of it doth no^ taste !
The sun not yet thy sighs from heaven clears.
Thy old groans ring yet in my ancient ears ;
Lo, here upon thy cheek the stain doth sit
Of an old tear that is not wash'd off yet :
If e'er thou wast thyself and these woes thine,
Thou and these woes were all for Rosaline :
And art thpju?l^ig^edl-|a:mioijrice.±his
Womenmay fall, when there 's no strength in meiL
Rom. Thou chid'st me oft for loving Rosaline.
Fri. L. For doting, not, for loving, pupil mine.
Ro^n. And bad'st me bury love.
Fri. L. Not in a grave.

To lay one in, another out to have.

Rom. t^iray thee, chide not : she whom I love now
Doth grace for grace and love for love 'allow ;
The other did not so. ■

60

70

80

SCENE II r.] ROMEO AND JULIET. gg

Fri. L. O, she knew well / ^, ^

_T^ip^^id fead by rote and could not spell. - V^'^V'^

But come, young waverer, come, go with me, V<^^ \ -;j^

In onexespect I 'IIllii_assistant be : "" V^'^ 90 ^^

For this alliance may so happy prove, - ^ ^^ ,

To turn your households' rancour to pure love. ' j iV^f^^^-^^^'^y'^*^^

Rom. 0, let us hence ; 1 stand on sudden liaste. ^. P''~j^^^

Fri. L. Wisely and slow ; they stumble that run fastjl' '

[^Exeunt.

Scene IV. A street.

■

Enter Benvolio and Mercutio.

Mer. Where the devil should this Romeo be ?
Came he not home to-night ?

Ben. Not to his father's ; I spoke with his man.

Mer. Ah, that same pale hard-hearted wench, that Eosaline,
Torments him so, that he will sure run mad.

Ben. Tybalt, the kinsman of old Capulet,
Hath sent a letter to his father's house.

Mer. A challenge, on my life.

Ben. Romeo will answer it.

Mer. Any man that can write may answer a letter. 10

Ben. Nay, he will answer the letter's master, how he dares,
being dared.

Mer. Alas, poor Romeo ! he is already dead ; stabbed with
a white wench's black eye ; shot thorough the ear with a
love-song ; the very pin of his heart cleft with the blind
bow-boy's butt-shaft : and is he a man to encounter Tybalt ?

Be7i. Why, what is Tybalt ?

Mer. More than prince of cats, I can tell you. O, he 's the
courageous captain of compliments. He fights as you sing
prick-song, keeps time, distance, and proportion ;* rests me
his minim rest, one, two, and the third in your bosom : the
very butcher of a silk button, a duellist, a duellist ; a gentle-

36 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

man of the very first house, of the first and second cause :
ah, the immortal passado ! the punto reverso ! the hai !

Ben. The what ?

Mer. Tlie plague of such antic, lisping, affecting fantas-
ticoes ; these new tuners of accents ! ' By Jesu, a very good
blade ! a very tall man ! ' Why, is not this a lamentable
thing, gi'andsire, that we should be thus afflicted with these
strange flies, these fashionmongers, these pardonnez-moys,
who stand so much on the new form, that they cannot sit at
ease on the old bench 1 0, their hons, their hons ! 32

Enter Eomeo.

Be7i. Here comes flomeo, here comes Ronieo.
f'^ Mer. Without his roe, like a dried herring : O flesh, flesh,
how art thou fishified ! Now is he for the numbers that
Petrarch flowed in : Laura to his lady was but a kitchen-
wench ; marry, she had a better love to be-rhyme her ; Dido
a dowdy ; Cleopatra a gipsy ; Helen and Hero hildings ;
Thisbe a grey eye or so, but not to the purpose. Signior
Romeo, bon jour ! there 's a French salutation to your French
slop. You gave us the counterfeit fairly last night. 41

Rom. Good morrow to you both. What counterfeit did I
give you ?

Mer. The slip, sir, the slip ; can you not conceive ?

Rom. Pardon, good Mercutio, my business was great ; and
in such a case as mine a man may strain courtesy.

Mer. That 's as much as to say, such a case as yours con-
strains a man to bow in the hams.

Rom. Meaning, to court'sy.

Mer. Thou hast most kindly hit it. 50

Rom. A most courteous exposition.

Mer. Nay, I am the very pink of courtesy,

Rom. Pink for flower.

Mer. Right.

Rom. Why, then is my pump well flowered.

Mer, Well said : follow me this jest now till thoa hast

SCENE IV.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 37

worn out thy pumi:), that when the single sole of it is worn,
the jest may remain, after the wearing, sole singular.

Rom. O single-soled jest, solely singular for the singleness !

Mer. Come between us, good Benvolio ; my wits faint. 60

Rom. Switch and spurs, switch and spurs ; for I '11 cry a
match.

Mer. Nay, if thy wits run the wild-goose chase, I have
done, for thou hast more of the wild-goose in one of thy wits
than, I am sure, I have in my whole five : was I with you
there for the goose 1

Rom. Thou wast never with me for any thing when thou
was not there for the goose.

Mer. I will bite thee by the ear for that jest.

Rom. Nay, good goose, bite not. 70

Mer. Thy wit is a very bitter sweeting ; it is a most
sharp sauce.

Rom. And is it not well served in to a sweet goose ?

Mer. O, here 's a wit of cheveril, that stretches from an inch
narrow to an ell broad !

Rom. I stretch it out for that word ' broad ; ' which added
to the goose, proves thee far and wide a broad goose.

Mer. Why, is not this better now than groaning for love ?
now art thou sociable, now art thou Eomeo ; now art thou
what thou art, by art as well as by nature : for this drivelling
love is like a gi'eat natural, that runs lolling up and down to
hide his bauble in a hole. - 82

Ben. Stop there, stop there.

Mer. Thou desirest me to stop in my tale against the hair. qA.iX^y'v^

Ben. Thou wouldst else have made thy tale large. ' ^ .'-•vAe^

Mer. O, thou art deceived ; I would have made it short :
for I was come to the whole depth of my tale ; and meant,
indeed, to occupy the argument no longer.

Rom. Here 's goodly gear !

Enter Nurse and Peter.
Mer. A sail, a sail ! 90

38 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

\^Ben. Two, two ; a shirt and a smock.

Nurse. Peter !

Peter. Anon !

Nicrse. My fan, Peter.

Mer. Good Peter, to hide her face ; for her fan's the
fairer face.

Nurse. God ye good morrow, gentlemen.

Mer. God ye good den, fair gentlewoman.

Nurse. Is it good den ?

Mer. 'Tis no less, I tell you. 100

Nurse. Gentlemen, can any of you tell me where I may
find the young Romeo ?

Ro77i. I can tell you ; but young Eomeo will be older when
you have found him than he was when you sought him :
I am the youngest of that name, for fault of a worse.

Nurse. You say well.

Mer. Yea, is the worst well ? very well took, i' faith ;
wisely, wisely.

Nurse. If you be he, sir, I desire some confidence with you.

Ben. She will indite him to some supper. Romeo, will
you come to your father's ? we '11 to dinner, thither. Ill

Rom. I will follow you.

Me): Farewell, ancient lady ; farewell, [singi7ig] ' lady,
lady, lady.' [B.i:eunt Mercutio and Benvc.lio.

Nurse. Marry, farewell ! I pray you, sir, what saucy
merchant was this, that was so full of his ropery ?

Rom. A gentleman, nurse, that loves to hear himself talk,
and will speak more in a minute than he will stand to in
a month. 119

Nwse. An a' speak any thing against me, I '11 take him
down, an a' were lustier than he is, and twenty such Jacks ;
and if I cannot, I '11 find those that shall. Scurvy knave ! I
am none of his flirt-gills ; I am none of his skains-mates.
And thou must stand by too, and suffer every knave to use
me at his pleasure ?

Feter. I saw no man use }ou at his pleasure ; if I had,

SCENE IV. i ROMEO AND JULIET. 39

my weapon should quickly have beeu out, I warrant you : I
dare draw as soon as another man, if I see occasion in a good
quarrel, and the law on my side. 129

Nurse. Now, afore God, I am so vexed, that every part
about me quivers. Scurvy knave ! Pray you, sir, a word :
and as I told you, my young lady bade me inquire you out ;
what she bade me say, I will keep to myself : but first let
me tell ye, if ye should lead her into a fool's paradise, as they
say, it were a very gross kind of behaviour, as they say : for
the gentlewoman is young j and, therefore, if you should
deal double with her, truly it were an ill thing to be offered
to any gentlewoman, and very weak dealing.

Rom. Nurse, commend me to thy lady and mistress.
I protest unto thee — 140

JShirse. Good heart, and i' faith, I will tell her as much :
Lord, Lord, she will be a joyful woman.

Ro7n. What wilt thou tell her, nurse ? thou dost not
mark me.

Xio7-se. I will tell her, sir, that you do protest ; which, as
I take it, is a gentlemanlike offer.

Rom. Bid her devise
Some means to come to shrift this afternoon ;
And there she shall at Friar Laurence' cell
Be shrived and married. Here is for thy pains. 150

Nurse. No, truly, sir ; not a penny.

Rom. Go to ; I say you shall.

Nurse. This afternoon, sir ? well, she shall be there.

Rom. And stay, good nurse, behind the abbey wall :
Within this hour my man shall be with thee,
And bring thee cords made like a tackled stair ;
Which to the high top-gallant of my joy
Must be my convoy in the secret night.
Farewell ; be trusty, and I '11 quit thy pains :
Farewell ; commend me to thy mistress. 160

Nurse. Now God. in heaven bless thee ! Hark you, sir.

Rovi. What say'st thou, my dear nurse 'i

40 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act li.

Nurse. Is your man secret ? Did you ne'er hear say,
Two may keep counsel, putting one away ? cd ft*^ *« . *<*— ^i--,

Rom. I warrant thee, my man 's as true as steel.

Nurse. Well, sir ; my mistress is the sweetest lady — Lord,
Lord ! when 'twas a little prating thing : — O, there is a
nobleman in town, one Paris, that would fain lay knife
aboard ; but she, good soul, had as lieve see a toad, a very
toad, as see him. I anger her sometimes and tell her that
Paris is the properer man ; but, I '11 warrant you, when I
say so, she looks as pale as any clout in the versal world.
Doth not rosemary and Romeo begin both with a letter ?

Rom. Ay, nurse ; what of that ? both with an R.

Nurse. Ah, mocker ! that 's the dog's name ; R is for the —
No ; I know it begins with some other letter : and she
hath the jjrettiest sententious of it, of you and rosemary,
that it would do yoi; good to hear it.

Rom. Commend me to thy lady.

Nurse. Ay, a thousand times. \^Exit Romeo.^ Peter ! 180

Pet. Anon !

Nurse. Peter, take my fan, and go before, and apace.

\_Exeunt.

Scene V. Capulefs orchard.

Enter Juliet.

Jul. The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse ;
In half an hour she promised to return.

Perchance she cannot meet him : that's not so. . ..w^e-**'**'^'"
O, she is lame-f love's heralds should be thoughts,
Which ten times faster glide than the sun's beams,
Driving back shadows over louring hills : .fn^te^'^"^
Therefore do nimble-pinion'd doves draw love,
And therefore hath the wind-swift Cupid wings. : ^^..c-tJ^cui^,
Now is the sun ujDon the highmost hill ^^ < ..,'< r/-
Of this day's journey, and from nine till twelve 10

Is three long hours, yet she is not come.

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 41

Had she affections and warm youthful blood, a-c^^i*-^

She would be as swift in motion as a ball ;

My words would bandy her to my sweet love,

And his to me :

But old folks, many feign as they were dead ; --C-uA.-

Unwieldy, slow, heavy and pale as lead.

0 God, she comes !

Efiter Nurse and Peter.

O honey nurse, what news ?
Hast thou met with him 1 Send thy man away.

yurse. Peter, stay at the gate. {Exit Peter.

Jul. Now, good sweet nurse, — O Lord, why look'st thou
sad ? 21

Though news be sad, yet tell them merrily ;
If good, thou shamest the music of sweet news
By playing it to me with so sour a face. ' '

Nurse. I am a-weary, give me leave awhile :
Fie, how my bones ache ! what a jaunce have I had ;

Jul. I would thou hadst my bones, and I thy news.
Nay, come, I pray thee, speak ; good, good nurse, speak

Nurse. Jesu, what haste ? can you not stay awhile ?
Do you not see that I am oi;t of breath ? 30

Jul. How art thou out of breath, when thou hast breath
To say to me that thou art out of breath 1
The excuse that thou dost make in this delay
Is longer than the tale thou dost excuse.
Is thy news good, or bad ? answer to that ;
Say either, and I '11 stay the circumstance : i'^d' ;
Let me be satisfied, is 't good or bad ?

Nurse. Well, you have made a simple choice ; you know-
not how to choose a man : Romeo ! no, not he ; though his
face be better than any man's, yet his leg excels all men's ;
and for a hand, and a foot, and a body, though they be not
to be talked on, yet they are past compare : he is not the
flower of courtesy, but, I '11 warrant him, as gentle as a lamb.

42 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act il.

Go thy ways, wench ; serve God. What, have you dined
at home ?

Jul. No, no : but all this did I know before.
What says he of our marriage ? what of that ?

Nurse. Lord, how my head aches ! what a head have I !
It beats as it would fall in twenty pieces.
My back o' t' other side, — O, my back, my back ! 50

Beshrew your heart for sending me about,
To catch my death with jaunting up and down !

Jul. I' faith, I am sorry that thou art not well.
Sweet, sweet, sweet nurse, tell me, what says my love ?

Nurse. Your love says, like an honest gentleman, and a
courteous, and a kind, and a handsome, and, I warrant,
a virtuous, — Where is your mother ?

Jul. Where is my mother ! why, she is within ;
Where should she be ? How oddly thou repliest !
* Your love says, like an honest gentleman, 60

Where is your mother ? '

Nurse. O God's lady dear !

Are you so hot 1 marry, come up, I trow ;
Is this the poultice for my aching bones ?
'.'■ i^ Henceforward do your messages yourself.

Jul. Here 's such a coil ! come, what says Eomeo ?

Nurse. Have you got leave to go to shrift to-day ?

Jul. I have.

Nurse. Then hie you hence to Friar Laurence' cell ;
There stays a husband to make you a wife :
Now comes the wanton blood up in your cheeks, 70

They '11 be in scarlet straight at any news.
Hie you to church ; I must another way.
To fetch a ladder, by the which your love
Must climb a bird's nest soon when it is dark :
I am the drudge and toil in your delight.
Go ; I'll to dinner ; hie you to the cell.

Jul, Hie to high fortune ! Honest nurse, farewell.

\_Exeunt.

«*■

scExVE VI.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 43

Scene VI. Friar Laurences cell.
Enter Friar Laurence and Romeo.

Fri. L. So smile the lieavens upon this holy act,
That after hours with sorrow chide us not !

Rom. Amen, amen ! but come what sorrow can.
It cannot countervail the exchange of joy o-uU*-*-'^^**^ ^*

That one short minute gives me in her sight :
Do thou but close our hands with holy words,
Then love-devouring death do what he dare ;
It is enough I may but call her mine.

Fri. L. These violent delights have violent ends
7kxA in their triumph die, like fire and powder, 10

Which as they: kiss consume : the sweetest honey (tt*«'#«'
Is loathsome in his own deliciousness
And in the taste confounds the appetite :
Therefore love moderately ; long love doth so ; .j__^
Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow. ^

^ft^er Juliet. '*^*^'^ .v^^^. ^y'

Here comes the lady : O, so light a foot

Will ne'er wear out the everlasting flint :

A lover may bestride the gossamer

That idles in the wanton summer air,

And yet not fall ; so light is vanity. 20

Jul. Good even to my ghostly confessor.

Fri. L. Romeo shall thank thee, daughter, for us both.

Jul. As much to him, else is his thanks too much.

Rom. Ah, Juliet, if the measure of thy joy S''**^
f Be heap'd like mine and that thy skill be more ,^-wA t**^

( To blazon it, then sweeten with thy breath
_This neighbour air, and let rich music's tongue ,

'Unfold the imagined happiness that both A*^.;un/' .
'Heceive in either by this dear encounter.. _

Jul. Conceit, more rich in matter than in words, 30

c^.

>UC^«t4^^

44 ROMEO AND JULIET. {act m.

Brags of his substance, not of ornament ; -*^ J'"'^^*^' ** 'f'^'

They are but beggars tliat can count their worth ;

But my true love is grown to such excess

I cannot sum up sum of half my wealth. / '**■*'.''"*■ ^^

Fri. L. Come, come with me, and we will make short work ;
For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone
Till holy church incorporate two in one. \^Exeunt.

ACT III.

Scene I. A public place.
Enter Mercutio, Benvolio, Page, and Servants.

Ben. I pray thee, good Mercutio, let 's retire :
The day is hot, the Capulets abroad.
And, if we meet, we shall not scape a brawl ;
For now, these hot days, is the mad blood stirring.

Mer. Thou art like one of those fellows that when he
enters the confines of a tavern claps me his sword ujion the
table and says ' God send me no need of thee ! ' and by the
operation of the second cup draws it on the drawer, when in-
deed there is no need.

Ben. Am I like svich a fellow ? 10

Mer. Come, come, thou art as hot a Jack in thy mood as
any in Italy, and as soon moved to be moody, and as soon
moody to be moved.

Ben. And what to ?

Mer. Nay, an there were two such, we should have none
shortly, for one would kill the other. Thou ! why, thou wilt
quarrel with a man that hath a hair more, or a hair less, in
his beard, than thou hast : thou wilt quarrel with a man for
cracking nuts, having no other reason but because thou hast
hazel eyes : what eye but such an eye would spy out such a
q«arrel ? Thy head is as full of quarrels as an egg is full of
meat, and yet thy head hath been beaten as addle as an egg

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 45

for quarrelling : thou hast quarrelled with a man for couo-hino-
in the street, because he hath wakened thy dog that hath
lain asleep in the sun : didst thou not fall ovit with a tailor
for wearing his new doublet before Easter? with another,
for tying his new shoes with old riband ? and yet thou wilt
tutor me from quarrelling ?

Ben. An I were so apt to quarrel as thou art, auv man
should buy the fee-simple of my life for an hour and a
quarter. 31

Mer. The fee-simple ! O simple !

Ben. By my head, here come the Capulets.

Mer. By my heel, I care not.

Enter Tybalt and others.

Tyh. Follow me close, for I will speak to them. Gentlemen,
good den : a word with one of you.

Mer. And but one word with one of us ? couple it witli
something ; make it a word and a blow.

Tyh. You shall find me apt enough to that, sir, an. you will
give me occasion. ^^--- - ^^

^Mer. Could you not take some occasion without giving T
Tyh. Mercutio, thou consort'st with Romeo, —
Mer. Consort ! what, dost thou make us minstrels ? an
thou make minstrels of us, look to hear nothing but discords :
here 's my fiddlestick ; here 's that shall make you dance.
'Zounds, consort !

Ben. We talk here in the public haunt of men : \
Either withdraw into some private place, ]

And reason coldly of your grievances, l

Or else depart ; here all eyes gaze on us. 50

Mer. Men's eyes were made to look, and let them gaze ;
I will not budge for no man's pleasure, I.

Enter Romeo.

Tyh. Well, peace be with you, sir : liere comes my man.

46 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

Mer. But, I '11 be hang'd, sir, if he wear your livery :
Marry, go before to field, he '11 be your follower ;
Your worship in that sense may call him ' man.'

Tyh. Romeo, the hate I bear thee can afford
No better term than this, — thou art a villain.

Rom. Tybalt, the reason that I have to love thee
Doth much excuse the appertaining rage 60

To such a greeting : villain am I none ;
Therefore farewell ; I see thou know'st me not.

Tyb. Boy, this shall not excuse the injuries
That thou hast done me ; therefore turn and draw.

Rom. I do protest, I never injured thee,
But love thee better than thou canst devise,
Till thou shalt know the reason of my love :
And so, good Capulet, — which name I tender
As dearly as my own, — be satisfied.

Mer. O calm, dishonourable, vile submission ! VO

Alia stoccata carries it away. [Draws.

Tybalt, you rat-catcher, will you walk ?

Tyh. What wouldst thou have with me ?

Mer. Good king of cats, nothing but one of your nine lives ;
that I mean to make bold withal, and, as you shall use me
hereafter, dry-beat the rest of the eight. Will you pluck
your sword out of his pilcher by the ears ? make haste, lest
mine be about your ears ere it be out.

Tyh. I am for you. [Bramng.

Rom. Gentle Mercutio, put thy rapier up. 80

Mer. Come, sir, your passado. [They Jight.

Rom. Draw, Benvolio ; beat down their weapons.
Gentlemen, for shame, forbear this outrage !
Tybalt, Mercutio, the prince expressly hath
Forbidden bandying in Verona streets :
Hold, Tybalt ! good Mercutio !

[Tyhalt under Romeo^s arm stabs Mercutio, and flies

with his followers.

Mer. I am hurt.

8CE>t: I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 47

A plague o' both your houses ! I am sped.
Is he gone, and hath nothing ?

Ben. "What, art thou hurt ?

Mer. Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch -, many, 'tis enough.
Where is my page ? Go, villain, fetch a surgeon. 90

l^Exit Page.

Rom. Courage, man ; the hurt cannot be much.

Mer. No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a church-
door ; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve : ask for me to-morrow,
and you shall find me a grave man. I am peppered, I
warrant, for this world. A plague o' both yoiir Houses !
'Zounds, a dog, a rat, a mouse, a cat, to scratch a man to
death ! a braggart, a rogue, a villain, that fights by the book
of arithmetic ! Why the devil came you between us ? I
was hurt under your arm.

Rom. I thought all for the best. 100

Mer. Help me into some house, Benvolio,

Or I shall faint. A_plague o' both your housesj

They have made worminneat^fme : T have it.
And soundly too : your houses !

[E.veunt Mercutio and Benvolio.
Rom. This gentleman, the prince's near ally.
My very friend, hath got his mortal hurt
In my behalf ; my reputation stain'd
With Tybalt's slander, — Tybalt, that an hour
Hath been my kinsman ! 0 sweet Juliet,
Thy beauty hath made me effeminate i 110

And in my temper soften'd valour's steel !

Re-enter Benvolio.

Ben. O Romeo, Romeo, brave Mercutio 's dead !
That gallant spirit hath aspired the clouds,
Which too untimely here did scorn the earth.

Rom. This day's black fate on more days doth depend
This but begins the woe others must end.

1

48 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

Ben. Here comes the furious Tybalt back again.

Rom. Alive, in triumph ! and Merputio slain !
Away to heaven, respective lenity,
^nd fire-eyed fury be my conduct now ! 120

Re-enter Tybalt.

Now, Tybalt, take the villain back again,
That late thou gavest me ; for Mercutio's soul
Is but a little way above our heads,
Staying for thine to keep him company :
Either thou, or I, or both, must go with him.

Tyh. Thou, wretched boy, that didst consort him here,
Shalt with him hence. ^s/eiNj \f^5\j<SJr>^

Rom. This shall determine that.

[They fight; Tybalt falls.

Ben. Romeo away, be gone !
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.

Stand not amazed : the prince will doom thee death, 130
If thou art taken : hence, be gone, away !

Rom. O, I am fortune's fool !

Ben. " Why dost thou stay ?

[E.Tit Romeo.

Enter Citizens, &c.

First Cit. Which way ran he that kill'd Mercutio ?
Tybalt, that murderer, which way ran he ?

Ben. There lies that Tybalt.

First Cit. Up, sir, go with me ;

I charge thee in the prince's name, obey.

Enter Prince, attended ; Montague, Capulet, their Wives,

and others.

Prin. Where are the vile beginners of this fray ?
Ben. O noble prince, I can discover all
The unlucky manage of this fatal brawl :

^-/^

c ~ ^

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. ,,^^.--=5^

There lies the man, slain by young Romeo, 140 ^

That slew thy kinsman, brave Mercutio.
La. Cap. Tybalt, my cousin ! O my brother's child !

O prince ! O cousin ! husband ! 0, the blood is spilt

Of my dear kinsman ! Prince, as thou art true,

For blood of ours, shed blood of Montague.

O cousin, cousin !

Prin. Benvolio, who began this bloody fray ?

Ben. Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay ;

Romeo that spoke him fair, bade him bethink

How nice the quarrel was, and urged withal 150

Your high displeasure -: all this uttered ^

With gentle breath, calm look, knees humbly bow'd.

Could not take truce with the vmruly spleen

Of Tybalt deaf to peace, but that he tilts

With piercing steel at bold Mercutio's breast, Cm'^ D

Who, all as hot, turns deadly point to point, ^

And, with a martial scorn, with one hand beats

Cold death aside, and with the other sends

It back to Tybalt, whose dexterity

Retorts it : Romeo he cries aloud, 160

'Hold, friends ! friends, part ! ' and, swifter than his tongue,

His agile arm beats down their fatal points.

And 'twixt them rushes ; underneath whose arm

An envious thrust from Tybalt hit the life

Of stout Mercutio, and then Tybalt fled ;

But by and by comes back to Romeo,

Who had but newlv entertain'd revenge,

And to 't they go like lightning, for, ere I

Could draw to part them, was stout Tybalt slain.

And, as he fell, did Romeo turn and fly. 170

This is the truth, or let Benvolio die.

La. Cap. He is a kinsman to the Montague ;
Aflfection makes him false ; he speaks not true :
Some twenty of them fought in this black strife,
And all those twenty could but kill one life.

D

50 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

I beg for justice, which thou, prince, must give ;
Komeo slew Tybalt, Romeo must not live.

Prin. Romeo slew him, he slew Mercutio ;
Who now the price of his dear blood doth owe ?

Mon. Not Romeo, prince, he was Mercutio's friend ; 180
His fault concludes but what the law should end, -

The life of Tybalt.

Pnn. And for that offence

. Immediately we do exile him hence :
[^/f^ ^ I have an interest in your hate's proceeding, c^^^'law- <-y ^#«*vA<

My blood for your rude brawls doth lie a-bleeding ;
'kt.iy.: •' But I'll ameice you with so strong a fine
That you shall all repent the loss of mine :
I will be deaf to pleading and excuses ;
Nor tears nor prayers shall purchase out abuses :

Therefore use none : let Ron^eo hence in haste,^ 190

Else, when he's found, that hour is his last. g^u^ H

Bear hence this body and attend our will : "*^ (f-^<^^ ^j^c^.
Mercy but murders, pardoning those that kill. \Exeunt.

Scene II. Capulet's orchard.

Enter Juliet.

J^il. Gallop ajjace, you fieiy-footed steeds,
j-*^ Towards Phoebus' lodging : such a waggoner

As Phaetlion would whip you to the west.
And bring in cloudy night immediately.
Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night.
That runaways' eyes may wink, and Romeo
Leap to these arms, untalk'd of and unseen.
Come, night ; come, Romeo ; come, thou day in night ; —
For thou wilt lie upon the wings of night
Whiter than new snow on a raven's back. 10

Come, gentle night, come, loving, black -brow'd night.
Give me my Romeo ; and, when he shall die,

SCENK II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 51

Take him and cut him out in little stars,

And he will make the face of heaven so fine ^-^ ' -" '^-"

That all the world will be in love with night

And pay no worship to the gaiish sun. jf.£^'X*^-*^

O, I have bousfht the mansion of a love.

But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold, 1

Not yet enjoy'd : so tedious is this day ^

As is the night before some festival 20

To an impatient child that hath new robes

And may not wear them. O, here comes^my nursCj^

And she brings news ; and every tongue that speaks^;

But Eomeo's name speaks heavenly eloquence.^

Enter Nurse, ipith cords.

Now, nurse, what news ? What hast thou there ? the cords
That Romeo bid thee fetch ?

Nurse. Ay, ay, the cords.

[Throws them doi'm.

Jid. Ay me ! what news 1 why dost thou wring thy hands?

Nurse. Ah, well-a-day ! he 's dead, he 's dead, he 's dead !
We are undone, ladv, we are undone I
Alack the day ! he 's gone, he 's kill'd, he 's dead ! 30

Jul. Can heaven be so^envious ?

Nurse. Romeo can,

Though heaven cannot : O Romeo, Romeo !
Who ever would have thought it ] Romeo !

Jul. AVhat devil art thou, that dost torment me thus ?
This torture should be roar'd in dismal hell.
Hath Romeo slain himself ? sav thou but ' I,'
And that bare vowel ' I ' shall poison more
Than the death-darting eye of cockatrice :
I am not I, if there be such an I ;

Or those eyes shut that make thee answer ' I.' 40

If he be slain, say ' I ' ; or if not, no :
Brief sounds determine of my weal or woe.

52 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

JVtirse. I saw the wound, I saw it with mine e.yes, —
God save the mark ! — here on his manly breast :
A piteous corse, a bloody jiiteous corse ;
Pale, pale as ashes, all bedaub'd in blood,
All in gore-blood : I swounded at the sight.

Jul. O, break, my heart ! poor bankrupt, break at once !
To prison, eyes, ne'er look on liberty !

Vile earth, to earth resign ; end motion here ; 50

And thou and Eomeo press one heavy bier !

^^urse. O Tybalt, Tybalt, the best friend I had !
O courteous Tybalt ! honest gentleman !
That ever I should live to see thee dead !

Jul. What storm is this that blows so contrarj^?
Is Romeo slaughter'd, and is Tybalt dead ?
My dear-loved cousin, and my dearer lord ?
Then, dreadful trumpet, sound the general doom !
For who is living, if those two are gone ?

Nurse. Tybalt is gone, and Romeo banished ; 60

Romeo that kill'd him, he is banished.

Jtd. O God ! did Romeo's hand shed Tybalt's blood 1

JVurse. It did, it did ; alas the day, it did !

Jul. O serpent heart, hid with a flowering face ?
Bid ever dragon keep so fair a cave ? i^Lal- ■
; Beautiful tyrant ! fiend angelical !

Dove-feather'd raven ! wolvish-ravening lamb !
p«*^ Dfispised svibstance of divinest show ! a^^^u^t^'t^c^^
I Just opposite to what thou justly seem'st,
^ A damned saint7 alTlTonourable villain ! 70

O nature, what hadst thou to do in hell, -«'*^ f*^ ****V *'*^^'
When thou didst bower the spirit of a fiend .a^^M*^<3<-
In mortal paradise of such sweet flesh ? < ~t^C<iA^ (if^i^fwu-^.

Was ever book containing such vile matter
So fairly bound ? O, that deceit should dwell
In such a gorgeous palace !

Nurse. There 's no trust,

No faith, no honesty in men ; all naught, y

f

SCENE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 53

All perjured, all dissemblers, all forsworn.

Ah, where 's my man ? give me some aqua vitte :

These griefs, these woes, these soi'rows make me old. 80

Shame come to Romeo !

Jul. Blister'd be thy tongue

For such a wish ! he was not born to shame :
Upon his brow shame is ashamed to sit ;
For 'tis a throne where honour may^^be croAvn'd f<tl*^
Sole monarch of the universal earth.
O, what a beast was I to chide at him !

Nurse. Will you speak well of him that kill'd your cousin?

Jul. Shall I speak ill of him that is my husband ? .
Ah, poor my lord, what tongue shall smooth thy name, 'Jf^^ ^
When I, thy three-hours wife, have mangled it 1 90

But, wherefore, villain, didst thou kill my cousin ?
That villain cousin would have kill'd my husband :
Back, foolish tears, back to your native spring ;
Your tributary drops belong to woe,
Which you, mistaking, offer up to joy.
My husband lives, that Tybalt would have slain ;
Ajid Tybalt's dead that would have slain my husband :
All this is comfort ; "wherefore weep I then ?
Some word there was, worser than Tybalt's death,
That murder'd me : I would forget it fain ; 100

But, O, it presses to my memory,
Like damned guilty deeds to sinners' minds :
'Tybalt is dead, and Eomeo — banished ;'
That ' banished,' that one word ' banished,'
Hath slain ten thousand Tybalts. Tybalfs death
Was woe enough if it had ended there :
Or, if sour woe delights in fellowship
And needly will be rank'd with other griefs.
Why f oUow'd not, when she said ' Tybalt's dead,'
Thy father, or thy mother, nay, or both, 110

Which modern lamentation might have moved ?
But with a rearward following Tybalt's death,

54 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act in.

' Romeo is banished/ to speak that word,

Is father, mother, Tybalt, Eomeo, Juliet,

All slain, all dead. 'Eomeo is banished ! '

There is no end, no limit, measure, bound.

In that word's death ; no words can that woe sound.

Where is my father, and my mother, nurse 1

Nurse. Weeping and wailing over Tybalt's corse :
Will you go to them 1 I will bring you thither. 120

Jid. Wash they his wounds with tears : mine shall be
spent,
When theirs are dry, for Romeo's banishment.
Take up those cords : poor ropes, you are beguiled,
Both you and I ; for Romeo is exiled :
He made you for a highway to my bed ;
But I, a maid, die maiden-widowed.
Come, cords, come, nurse ; I '11 to my wedding-bed.

Nurse. Hie to your chamber : I '11 find Eomeo
To comfort you : I wot well where he is.
Hark ye, your Eomeo will be here at night : 130

I '11 to him ; he is hid at Laurence' cell.

Jul. O, find him ! give this ring to my true knight,
Ajid bid him come to take his last farewell. [Exeunt.

Scene III. Friar Laurence^ cell.

Enter Friar Laurence.

Fri. L. Romeo, come forth ; come forth, thou fearful man :

Affliction is enamour'd of thy parts,

And thou art wedded to calamity.
- — — '"^ ♦

Enter Romeo.

Rom. Father, what news ? what is the prince's doom ?
What sorrow craves acquaintance at my hand,
That I yet know not ?

^

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 55

Fri. L. Too familiar

Is my dear son with such sour company :
I bring thee tidings of the prince's doom.

Ro7n. What less than dooms-day is the prince's doom ?

Fri. L. A gentler judgement vanished from his lips, 10
Not body's death, but body's banishment.

Rom. Ha, banishment ! be merciful, say ' death ; '
For exile hath more terror in his look,
Much more than death : do not say ' banisliment.'

Fri. L. Hence from Verona art thou banished :
Be patient, for the world is broatl and wide.

Rom. There is no world without Verona walls,
,But purgatory, torture, hell itself. ^
Hence-banished is banish'd from the world.
And world's exile is death : then banished, 20

Is death mis-term'd : calling death banishment.
Thou cutt'st my head off with a golden axe.
And smilest upon the stroke that murders me.

Fri. L. O deadly sin ! O rude unthankf ulness !
Thy fault our law calls death ; but the kind prince,
Taking thy part, hath rusli'd aside the law.
And turn'd that black word death to banished :
This is dear mercy, and thou seest it not.

Rom. 'Tis torture, and not mercy : heaven is here,
Where Juliet lives ; and every cat and dog 30

And little mouse, every unworthy thing, i^'—' '^ ■^^^
Live here in heaven and may look on her ;

But Romeo may not : more validity, a <,'v.-vv-«-^ ■ -^ -v-

More honourable state, more courtship lives ^ /^.^ ^"' /**f^''^^^***'
In carrion-flies than Eomeo : they may seize ^^ ^ ''Y

On the white wonder of dear Juliet's hand r^-^--^ ^' -^ iv^^^tU^^*^-*^f ^
And steal immortal blessing from her lips,

Who, even in pure and vestal modesty, .ut.."

Still blush, as thinking their own kisses sin ; '^^ '" "" o^M*^

But Eomeo may not ; he is banished : 40'

Tliis may flies do, when I from this must fly :

56 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ill.

They are free men, but I am banished.

And say'st thou yet that exile is not death ?

Hadst thou no poison mix'd, no sharp-ground knife,

No sudden mean of death, though ne'er so mean, of r-a-C-tt-

But ' banished ' to kill me ? — ' banished ' ?

O friar, the damned use that word in hell ;

Howlings attend it : how hast thou the heart,

Being a divine, a ghostly confessor, ^/z-v<**^ *■/

A sin-absolver, and my friend profess'd, 50

To mangle me with that word ' banished ' ?

Fri. L. Thou fond mad man, hear me but speak a word.

Rom. O, thou wilt speak again of banishment.

Fri. L. I '11 give thee armour to keep off that word ;
Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy.
To comfort thee, though thou art banished.

Rom. Yet ' banished ' ? Hang up philosophy !
Unless philosophy can make a Juliet,
Displant a town, reverse a prince's doom,
It helps not, it prevails not : talk no more. 60

Fri. L. J3^ then I see that madmen have no ears.

Rom. How should they, when that wise men have no eyes 1

Fri. L. Let me dispute with thee of thy estate.

Rom. Thou canst not speak of that thou dost not feel :
Wert thou as young as I, Juliet thy love.
An hour but married, Tybalt murdered,
_Doting like me and like me banished.

Then mightst thou speak, then mightst thou tear thy hair.
And fall upon the ground, as I do now, 69

Taking the measure of an unmade grave. {^Knocking xvithin.

Fri. L. Arise ; one knocks ; good Romeo, hide thyself.

Rom. Not I ; unless the breath of heart-sick groans.
Mist-like, infold me from the search of eyes. \K710cking.

Fri. L. Hark, how they knock ! Who 's there ! Romeo,
arise ;
Thou wilt be taken. Stay awhile ! Stand up ; [Knocking.
Run to my study. By and by ! God's will,

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 57

What simpleness is this ! I come, I come ! [Knocking.

Who knocks so hard ? whence come you 1 what 's your will ?

Nurse. [ Withhi] Let me come in, and you shall know my
errand ;
I come from Lady Juliet.

Fri. L. Welcome, then. 80

Enter Nurse.

NvjTse. O holy friar, O, tell me, holy friar,
Where is my lady's lord, where 's Eomeo ?

Fri. L. There on the ground, with his own tears made
drunk.

Nurse. O, he is even in my mistress' case.
Just in her case ! O woful sympathy !
Piteous predicament ! Even so lies she, '"^
Blubbering and weeping, weeping and blubbering.
Stand up, stand up ; stand, an you be a man :
For Juliet's sake, for her sake, rise and stand ;
Why should you fall into so deep an O ? 90

Rom. Nurse.

Nurse. Ah sir ! ah sir ! Well, death 's the end of all

Rom. Spakest thou of Juliet ? how is it with her ?
Doth she not think me an old murderer, &^:ryM^'^^yv-*^-
Now I have stain'd the childhood of our joy
With blood removed but little from her own '?
Where is she ? and how doth she ? and what says
My conceal'd lady to our cancell'd love ? <«--. ^-*^-'^-^

Nurse. O, she says nothing, sir, but weeps and weeps ;
And now falls on her bed ; and then starts up, 100

And Tybalt calls ; and then on Eomeo cries.
And then down falls again.

Rom. As if that name.

Shot from the deadly level of a gun, 4*>a<^ rf^At*,^-^ »-' •-
Did murder her ; as that name's cursed hand
Murder'd her kinsman. O, tell me, friar, tell me,

58 /\i^y^^jjQr^ ROMEO AND JULIET. [act in.

/

In what vile pai't of this anatomy

Doth my name lodge 1 tell me, that I may sack

The hateful mansion. [Drau'ing his sword.

^^. X. Holdjhy desperate hand : I

. Art thou a man ? thy form cries out thou art :

Thy tears are womanish ; thy_wild acts denote 110

The unreasonable fury of a beast :

Unseemly woman in a seeming man !

Or ill-beseeming beast in seeming both !

Thou hast amazed me : by my holy order,

I thought thy disposition better temper'd.

Hast thou slain Tybalt ? wilt thou slay thyself ?

And slay thy lady too that lives in thee,

By doing damned hate upon thyself ?

Why rail'st thou on thy birth, the heaven, and earth ?

Since birth, and heaven, and earth, all three do meet 120

In thee at once ; which thou at once wouldst lose.

Fie, fie, thou shamest thy shape, thy love, thy wit ; .yfv«»^,«j^«.vi
' Which, like a usurer, abound'st in all,

And usest none in that true use indeed

Which should bedeck thy shape, thy love, thy wit :

Thy noble shape is but a form of wax, ^j .r\^ LLU/^T^-fc, « C-- ■-
. Digressing from the valour or a man ; '

Thy dear love sworn but hollow perjury.

Killing that love which thou hast vow'd to cherish ; '

Thy wit, that ornament to shape and love, 130

"Mis-shapen in the conduct of them both.

Like powder in a^killess sofdier's flask,
_.Is_5£t.a^re_b2^thme^wTiJgnorance, -Hx f^- '♦■^'^^

And thou dismember'd with thine own defence. '^^.fUi-i

What, rouse thee, man ! thy Juliet is alive.

For whose dear sake thou wast but lately dead ;

There art thou happy : Tybalt would kill thee,

But thou slew'st Tybalt ; there art thou happy too :

The law that threaten'd death becomes thy friend

And turns it to exile ; there art thou happy : 140

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 59

A pack of blessings lights upon thy back ;
Happiness courts thee in her best array ;
But, like a misbehaved and sullen wench, .^-^CL- m^,^^
Thou pout'st upon thy fortune and thy love : ^y^-^Mjt^ a^ -u^
Take heed, take heed, for such die miserable.

Go, get thee to thy love, as was decreed, coc ia,^* <£«'Ce'»«**«^-t*/'
Ascend her chamber, hence and comfort her J
But look thou stay not till the watch be set, r^.^ to#c<
For then thou canst not pass to Mantua ;

Where thou shalt live, till we can find a time ^.£,^.,,4^. 1^^ .>>i,t.«^ij:
*^ To lilaze your marriage, reconcile yoijr friends, '■

Beg pardon of the prince, and call thee back ^

With twenty himdred thousand/times more joy
Than thou went'st forth in lamentation.

Go before, nurse : commend me to thy lady ;
And bid her hasten all the house to bed,
Which heavy sorrow makes them apt unto :
Romeo is coming.

Nurse. O Lord, I could have stay'd here all the night
To hear good counsel : O, what learning is ! 160

My lord, I '11 tell my lady you will come.

Rom. Do so, and bid my sweet prepare to chide.

Nurse. Here, sir, a ring she bid me give you, sir :
Hie you, make haste, for it grows very late. \^Exit.

Rom. How well my comfort is revived by this I

Fri. L. Go hence ; good night ; and here stands all your
state :
Either be gone before the watch be set,
^Orby thebreak_i2f,day disguised froni hence :
Sojourn in Mantua ; I '11 find out your man.
And he shall signify from time to time ,.^..a^K*' ■ v"-^ IVO
Every good hap to you that chances here :
Give me thy hand ; 'tis late : farewell ; good night.

Rom. But that a joy past joy calls out on me.
It were a grief, so brief to part with thee :
Farewell. [Exeunt.

60 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act in.

Scene IV. A room in Capulefs house.
Enter Capulet, Lady Capulet, mid Paris.

Cap. Things have fall'n out, sir, so unhickily,
That we have had no time to move our daughter :
Look you, she loved her kinsman Tybalt dearly.
And so did I : — Well, we were born to die.
'Tis very late, she '11 not come down to-night ;
I promise you, but for your company,
I would have been a-bed an hour ago.

Par. These times of woe afford no time to woo.
Madam, good night ; commend me to your daughter.

La. Cap. I will, and know her mind early to-morrow ; 10
To-night she is mew'd up to her heaviness.

Cap. Sir Paris, I will make a desperate tender

Of my child's love : I think she will be ruled
In all respects by me ; nay, more, I doubt it not.
Wife, go you to her ere you go to bed ;
Acquaint her here of my son Paris' love ;
And bidTier, mark you me, on Wednesday next —
But, soft ! what day is this ?

Par. Monday, my lord.

Cap. Monday ! ha, ha ! Well, Wednesday is too soon,
O' Thursday let it be : o' Thursday, tell her, 20

She shall be married to this noble earl.
Will you be ready 1 do yoix like this haste ?

We^l keep no great ado, — a friend or two ;

For, hark you, Tybalt being slain so late,

It may be thought we held him carelessly,

Being our kinsman, if we revel much :

Therefore we '11 have some half a dozen friends,

And there an end. But what say you to Thursday ?

Par. My lord, I would that Thursday were to-morrow.

Cap. Well, get you gone : o' Thursday be it, then. 30

Go you to Juliet ere you go to bed.

SCENE IV.] ROMEO AND JULIET.

61

Prepare her, wife, against tliis wedding-day.

Farewell, my lord. Light to my chamber, ho !

Afore me ! it is so very very late,

That we may call it early by and by.

Good night. • [Ea^eunt.

Scene V. Capulet's orchard.
Enter Romeo and Juliet above, at the ivindoiv.

Jul. Wilt thou be gone ? it is not yet near day :
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear ;
Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree :
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.

Rom. It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale : look, love, what envious streaks ^j-^"l..^-v.
Do lace the severing clouds in yondei^east :
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops. 10

I must be gone and live, or stay and die.

Jul. Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I : ^

It is some meteor that the sun exhales, di/x&*^^ - ^'^*~t^

To be to thee this night a torch-bearer, ""

And light thee on thy way to Mantua :
Therefore stay yet ; thou need'st not to be gone.

Rom. Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death ;
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I '11 say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow ; , 20

Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat '
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads :
I have more care to stay than will to go :
Come, death, and welcome ! Juliet wills it so.
How is 't, my soul ? let 's talk ; it is not day.

62 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act in.

Jul. It is, it is : hie hence, be gone, away !
It is the lark that sings so out of tune, y^

Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
Some say the lark makes sweet division ',,xi^cwy^
This doth not so, for she divideth us : 30

Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes ;
0, now I would they had changed voices too !
Since arm from arm that voice doth thus affray, ^'^*^ J^i^i^
Hunting thee hence with hunt's-up to the day.
O, now be gone ; more light and light it grows.

Rom. More light and light ; more dark and dark our woes !

Ente?- Nur^e, to the chamber.

Nurse. Madam !

J%d. Nurse ?

Nurse. Your lady mother is coming to your chamber :
The day is broke ; be wary, look about. {Exit. 40

J^d. Then, window, let day in, and let life out.

Rom. Farewell, farewell ! one kiss, and I '11 descend.

{He goeth down.

Jul. Art thou gone so ? love, lord, ay, husband, friend !
I must hear from thee every day in the hour.
For in a minute there are many days :
O, by this count I shall be much in years
Ere I again behold my Romeo.

Ro7n. Farewell !
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee. 50

Jul. O, think'st thou we shall ever meet again ?

Rom. I doubt it not ; and all these woes shall serve
For sweet discourses in our time to come.

J\d. O God, I_have an ill-divining soul !
Methinks I see_thfifi,__now thou art below,
As one^ead in the bottom of a tomb :
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.

Rom. And trust me, love, in my eye so do you :

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 63

Dry sorrow drinks o\;r blood. Adieu, adieu ! [Exit.

Jul. O fortune, fortune ! all men call thee fickle : 60

If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him
That is renown'd for faith ? Be fickle, fortune ;
For then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,
But send him back^

La. Cap. [Within^ Ho, daughter ! are you up ?

Jul. Who is 't that calls ? is it my lady mother ?
Is she not down so late, or up so early ?
What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither ?

Enter Lady Capulet.

La. Cap. Why, how now, Juliet !

Jul. Madam, I am not well.

La. Cap. Evermore weeping for your cousin's death ?
What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears ? 70
An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live ;
Therefore, have done : some grief shows much of love ;
But much of grief shows still some want of wit.

J21I. Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss.

La. Cap. So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend
Which you weep for.

Jul. Feeling so the loss,

I cannot choose but ever weep the friend.

La. Cap. Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death.
As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him.

Jul. What A'illain, madam ?

La. Cap. That same villain, Eomeo. 80

Jid. [Aside] Villain and he be many miles asunder. —
God pardon him ! I do, with all my heart ;
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.

La. Cap. That is, because the traitor murderer lives.

Jtd. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands :
Would none but I might venge mv cousin's death !

La. Cap. We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not :

64 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

Then weep no more. I '11 send to one in Mantua,

Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,

Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram, 90

That he shall soon keep Tybalt company :

And then, I hope, thou wilt be satisfied.
Jul. Indeed, I never shall be satisfied

With Bomeo, till I behold him — dead —

Is my poor heart so for a kinsman vex'd :

Madam, if you could find out but a man

To bear a poison, I would temper it ;

That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof.

Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors

To hear him named, and cannot come to him, 100

To wreak the love I bore my cousin

Upon his body that hath slaughter'd him !

La. Cap. Find thou the means, and I '11 find such a man.
But now I '11 tell thee joyful tidings, girl.

Jul. And joy comes well in such a needy time :
What are they, I beseech your ladyship ?

La. Cap. Well, well, thou hast a careful fathei-, child ;
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness.
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy.

That thou expect'st not nor I look'd not for. 110

Jul. Madam, in happy time, what day is that ?
La. Cap. Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,
The gallant, young and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.

Jul. Now^by_ Saint Peter's Church and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
I wonder at this haste ; that I must wed
EreHie, that should be husband, comes to woo.
I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam, 120

fwilliiot marry yet ; and, when I do, I swear,
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate.
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed !

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 65

La. Cap. Here comes your father ; tell him so yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands.

Enter Capulet and Nurse.

Cap. When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew ;
But for the sunset of my brother's son
It rains downright.

How now ! a conduit, girl ? what, still in tears ?
Evermore showering ? In one little body 130

Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind ;
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears ; the bark thy body is.
Sailing in this salt flood ; the winds, thy sighs ;
"Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,
Without a sudden calm, will overset
Thy tempest-tossed body. How now, wife !
Have you deliver'd to her our decree ?

La. Cap. Ay, sir ; but she will none, she gives you thanks.
I would the fool were married to her grave ! 140 ^

Cap. Soft ! take me with you, take me with you, wife. i _*;r: '^

How ! will she none ? doth she not cive us thanks ? ' , \(y^

O \ j ■

Is she not proud ? does she not count her blest, ;, -i

Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought ^^

So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom ?

Jul.J^ot proud, you have ; but thankful, that you have :
Proud can 1 never be of what I hate^ ~~
But thankful even for hate, that is meant love. — - '

Cap. How now, how now, chop-logic ! What is this ?
' Proud,' and ' I thank you,' and ' I thank you not ; ' 150 ^

And yet ' not proud : ' mistress minion, you, ■ '' ["■^•^'^^ *t
Thank me no thankings, nor i)roud me no prouds.
But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next, , • a, Z"**^^

To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither. X
Out, you green sickneis^cafrlon ! out, you baggage !

E

66 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

You tallow-face !

La. Cap. Fie, fie ! what, are you mad ?

Jul. Good father, I beseech you on Iny knees.
Hear me with patience, but to speak a word.

Cap. Hang thee, young baggage ! disobedient wretch ! 160
I tell thee what : get thee to church o' Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face :
Speak not, reply not, do not answer me ;
My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest
That God had lent us but this only child ;
But now I see this one is one too much,

And that we have a curse in having her : -^ .

Out on her, hilding ! ' '. , ' ' ' r^— ~

Niirse. God in heaven bless her !

Yoii are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.

Cap. And why, my lady wisdom ? hold your tongue, 170
Good prudence ; smatter with your gossips, go.

Nurse. I speak no treason.

Cap. ■ O. God ye god-den. •/^/«/*"'

N^irse. May not one speak ? ' '

Cap. Peace, you mumbling fool !

Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl ;
For here we need it not.

La. Cap. You are too hot;

Cap. God's bread ! it male es me mad :
Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been,
To have her match'd : and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage, 180

Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
StufF'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man ;
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
Tolanswer"' T'U not wed ; I cannot love,
I am too young ; I pray you, pardon me.'

SCENE v.] KOMEO AND JULIET. 67

But, an yoti will not wed, I '11 pardon you :

Graze where you will, you shall not house with me : , ^

Look to 't, think on 't, I do not use to jest. yi*'' 190

Thursday is near ; lay hand on heart, advise : i;:;«^>*v

An you be mine, I '11 give you to my friend ;

An you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in the streets,

.For, by my soulTT'll ne'er acknowledge thee,

Nor what is mine shall never do thee good :

Trust to 't, bethink you ; I '11 not be forsworn. -j.t,-ii.[^Exit.--

Jul. Is there no pity sitting in the clouds, ^, ,,\**i>-.-

That sees into the bottom of my grief ■?
O, sweet my mother, cast me not away !
Delay this mairiage for a month, a week ; 200

Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.

La. Cap. Talk not to me, for I '11 not speak a word :
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with tliee. \^E.vit.

Jul. O God ! — O luirse, how shall this be prevented
My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven ;
How shall that faith return again to eartli,
Unless that husband send it me from lieaven
By leaving earth 1 comfort me, counsel me.
Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems 210
Upon so soft a subject as myself ! "

AYhat say'st thou ? hast thou not a word of joy ?
Some comfort, nurse.

Nurse. Faith, here it is.

Romeo is banish'd ; and all the world to nothing.
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you 'tcCg^*^*^^.,.
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the county.
O, he 's a lovely gentleman !

Romeo 's a dishclovit to him : an eagle, madam, di^'^^ 220 'tf
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye '' '

As Paris hath. Beshiew my very heart,

68 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first : or if it did not,
Your first is dead ; or 'twere as good he were,
As living here and you no use of him.

Jul. Speakest thou from thy heart ?

Nurse. And from my soul too ;

Or else beshrew them both.

Jul. Amen !

Nurse. What 1

Jul. Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
Go in ; and tell my lady 1 am gone, £30

Having displeased my father, to Laurence' cell,
To make confession, and to be absolved.

Nurse. Marry, I will ; and this is wisely done. \^Exii.

Jul. Ancient damnation ! O most wicked fiend !
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn.
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times 1 Go, counsellor ;
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I'll to the friar, to know his remedy : 240

If all else fail, myself have power to die. [^E.vit.

ACT IV.

Scene I. Friar Laurence's cell.
Enter Friar Laurence and Paris.

Fri. L. On Thursday, sir 1 the time is very short.

Par. My father CajDulet will have it so ;
And I am nothing slow to slack his haste.

Fri. L. You say you do not know the lady's mind
Uneven is the course, I like it not.

Par. Immoderately she weeps for Tybalt's death.

SCENE r.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 69

And therefore have I little talk'd of love ;

For Venus smiles not in a house of tears.

Now, sir, her father counts it dangerous

That she^oth give her sorrow so much sway, ^ 10

md in his wisdom hastes our marriage,

To stop the inundation of her tears ;
Which, too much minded by herself alone,
May be put from her by society :
Now do you know the reason of this haste.

Fri. L. [Aside] I would I knew not why it should be slow'd.
Look, sir, here comes the lady towards my cell.

Enter Juliet.

Par. Happily met, my lady and my wife !

Jul. That may be, sir, when I may be a wife.

Par. That may be must be, love, on Thursday next. 20

Jul. "What must be shall be.

Fri. L. That 's a certain text.

Par. Come you to make confession to this father ?

Jul. To answer that, I should confess to you.

Par. Do not deny to him that you love me.

Jul. I will confess to you that I love him.

Pai: So will ye, I am sure, that you love me.

J\d. If I do so, it will be of more price.
Being spoke behind your back, than to your face.

Par. Poor soul, thy face is much abused with tears.

Jid. The tears have got small victory by that ; 30

For it was bad enough before their spite.

Par. Thou wrong'st it, more than tears, with that report.

Jid. That is no slander, sir, which is a truth ;
And wliat I s]mke, I spake it to my face.

Par. Thy face is mine, and thou hast slander'd it.

Jul. It may be so, for it is not mine own.
Are you at leisure, holy father, now ;
Or shall I come to you at evening mass ?

70 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Fri. L. My leisure serves me, pensive daughter, now.
My lord, we must entreat the time alone. 40

Par. God shield I should disturb devotion !
Juliet, on Thursday early will I rouse ye :
Till then, adieu ; and keep this holy kiss. [Exit.

Jul. O, shut the door ! and when thou hast done so,
Come weep with me ; past hope, past cure, past help !

Fri. L. Ah, Juliet, I already know thy grief ;
It strains me past the compass of my wits :
I hear thou must, and nothing may prorogue it,
On Thursday next be married to this county.

Jul. Tell me not, friar, that thou hear'st of this, 50

Unless thou tell me how I may prevent it :
If, in thy wisdom, thou canst give no help,
Do thou but call my resolution wise, oJl/U-^^^^^"

And with this knife I '11 help it presently.
God join'd my heart and Romeo's, thou our hands ;
And ere this hand, by thee to Romeo seal'd,
Shall be the label to another deed.

Or my true heart with treacherous revolt ,

Tiu'n to another, this shall slay them both : \-jUj.-''X ^
Therefore, out of thy long-experienced time, 60

Give me some present counsel, or, behold, j-

'Twixt my extremes and me this bloody knife '*' &iiM^'^\

Shall play the umpire, arbitrating that .'. , Cl<J*

Which the commission of thy years and art ^^
Could to no issue of true honour bring. ~<^/-

Be not so long to speak ; I long to die,
If what thou speak'st speak not of remedy.

Fri. L. Hold, daughter : I do spy a kind of hope,
Wliicli craves as desperate an execution

As that is desperate which we would prevent. 70

If, rather than to marry County Paris,
Thou hast the strength of will to slay thyself,
Then is it likely thou wilt undertake ^\

A thing like death to chide away this shame, 'yji^J^ j i

SCENE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 71

That cop'st with death himself to scape from it ;
And, if tliou dar'st, I '11 give thee remedy.

Jul. O, bid me leap, rather than marry Paris,
From off the battlements of yonder tower ;
Or walk in thievish ways ; or bid me lurk
Where serpents are ; chain me with roaring bears ; 80

Or shut me nightly in a charnel-house, - ^^'

O'er-covei-'d quite with dead men's rattling bones,
With reeky shanks and yellow chapless skulls ;
Or bid me go into a new-made grave
And hide me with a dead man in his shroud ;
Things that, to hear them told, have made me tremble ;
And I will do it without fear or doubt.
To live an unstain'd wife to my sweet love.

Fri. L. Hold, then ; go home, be merry, give consent
To marry Paris : Wednesday is to-morrow : 90

To-morrow night look that thou lie alone ;
Let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber :
Take thou this vial, being then in bed,
And this distilled liquor "drink thou off;
When presently throvigh all thy veins shall run
A cold and drowsy humour, for no pulse ^^xjiA^^j "7 f--^^*^

Shall keep his native progress, but surcease : -^ '^^y-
No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou li^^st ;
The roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade
To paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall, 100

Like death, when he shuts up the day of life ;
Each part, deprived of supple government.
Shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death :
And in this borrow'd likeness of shrunk death
Thou shalt continue two and forty hours,
And then awake as from a pleasant sleep.
Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes
To rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead :
Then, as the manner of our country is,
In thy best robes uncover'd on the bier 110

72 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault

Where all the kindred of the Capulets lie.

In the mean time, against thou shall awake,

Shall Romeo by my letters know ourjirif t, p^^,^.;^>^"^ ^

And hither shall he come : and he and I

Will watch thy waking, and that very night

Shall Eomeo bear thee hence to Mantua.

And this shall free thee from this present shame ;

If no,inconstant toy,^ nor jmmanish fear^ ^^

Abate thy valour in the acting it. 120

Jxhl. Give me, give me ! O, tell not me of fear !

Fn. L. Hold ; get you gone, be strong snd prosperous
In this resolve : I '11 send a friar with speed
To Mantua, with my letters to thy lord.

Jul. Love_give me strength ! and strength shall help afford.
Farewell, dear fatherj__ ' ~ {Exeunt.

Scene II. Hall in Capulefs house.
Enter Capulet, Lady Capulet, Nurse, and two Servingmen.

Cap. So many guests invite as here are writ.

\^Exit First Servant.
Sirrah, go hire me twenty cunning cooks.

Sec. Serv. You shall have none ill, sir ; for I '11 try if they
can lick their fingers.

Cap. How canst thou try them so ?

Sec. Serv. Marry, sir, 'tis an ill cook that cannot lick his
own fingers : therefore he tliat cannot lick his fingers goes
not with me.

Cap. Go, be gone. [Exit Sec. Servant.

We shall be much unfurnish'd for this time. 10

What, is my daughter gone to Friar Laurence ?

J/tcrse. Ay, forsooth.

SCENE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 73

Cap. Well, he may chance to do some good on her.
Nurse. See where she comes from shrift with meriy look.

Enter Juliet.

Cap. How now, my headstrong ! where have you been \^

gadding? y^^

Jul. Where I have learn'd me to repent the sin V, ^

Of disobedient opposition ^ "^ \\r/^^

To von and vnnr bflifists. nnd nm pninin'rl ' '\ ■' .

To you and your behests, and am enjoin'd ^ '^ •' ^^^

p And beg your pardon : pardon, I beseech you ! 1 A 20

By holy Laurence to fall prostrate here, _ JK S^

I Henceforward I am ever ruled by you.

Cap. Send for the county ; go tell him of this :
I'll have this knot knit up to-morrow morning.

Jul. I met the youthful lord at Laurence' cell ;
And gave him what becomed love I might,
Not stepping o'er the bounds of modesty.

Cap. Why, I am glad on 't ; this is well : stand up :
This is as 't should be. Let me see the county ;
Ay, marry, go, I say, and fetch him hither.
Now, afore God ! this reverend holy friar, 30

All our whole city is much bound to him.

Jicl. Nurse, will you go with me into my closet.
To help me sort such needful ornaments
As you think fit to furnish me to-morrow ?

La. Cap. No, not till Thursday ; there is time enough.

Cap. Go, nurse, go with her : we'll to church to-morrow.

[Kveuni Jxdiet atid Nurse.

La. Cap. We shall be short in our provision :
'Tis now near night.

Cap. Tush, I will stir about,

And all things shall be well, I warrant thee, wife :
Go thou to Juliet, help to deck up her ; 40

I'll not to bed to-night ; let me alone ;
I'll play the housewife for this once. What, ho !
They are all forth. Well, I will walk myself

74 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

To County Paris, to prepare him up

■Against to-morrow : my heart is wondi'ous light,

Since this same wayward girl is so reclaim' d._ [Exeunt.

Scene III. Juliet's chamber.

Enter Juliet and Nurse.

Jul. Ay, those attires are best : but, gentle nurse,
I pray thee, leave me to myself to-night ;
For I have need of many orisons - ^-^-^5^5-^*-"

To move the heavens to smile upon my state, <^,.-'.c.v d
Which, well thou know'st, is cross and full of sin.

Enter Lady Capulet.

La. Cap. What, are you busy, ho ? need you ray help ?

Jul. No, madam ; we have cull'd such necessaries
As are behoveful for our state to-morrow :
So please you, let me now be left alone.

And let the nurse this night sit up with you ; 10

For, I am sure, you have your hands full all.
In this so sudden business.

La. Cap. Good night :

Get thee to bed, and rest ; for thou hast need.

[Exeunt Lady Cwpulet and Nurse.

Jul. Farewell ! God knows when we shall meet again.
I have a faint cold fear thrills through my veins,
That almost freezes up the heat of life : »

I '11 call them Ijack again to comfort me :
Nurse. What should she do here ?
My dismal scene I needs must act alone.

Come, vial. 20

What if this mixture do not work at all ?
Shall I be married then to-morrow morning 1
No, no : this shall forbid it : lie thou there.

[Laying down her dayger.

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 75

What if it be a poison, which the friar
Subtly hath miiiister'd to have me dead,
Lest in this marriage he should be dishonour'd.
Because he married me before to Romeo ?
I fear it is : and yet, methinks, it should not, t-r^^f ■'
For he hath still been tried a holy man. /jl^/v*-**--
How if, when I am laid into the tomb, 30

I awake before the time that Romeo
^^ome to redeem me % there 's a fearful point !
Shall I not, then, be stifled in the vault.
To whose foul mouth no healthsome air breathes inj_
And there die strangled ere my Romeo comes ? __
Or, if i live, is it not very like,
TJie liorj-ible conceit of death and night, -* '' ""1^

Together with the terror of the place, —

As in a vault, an ancient recejjtacle.

Where, for this many hundred years, the bones 40

Of all my buried ancestors are pack'd :

Where bloody Tybalt, yet but green in earth,

Lies festering in his shroud ; where, as they say,

At some hours in the night spirits resort ; —
'Alack, alack, is it not like that I,
(So early waking, what with loathsome smells,
[And shrieks like mandrakes' torn out of the earth,
I That living mortals, hearing them, run mad : —

O, if I wake, shall I not be distraiight,

EnA'ironed with all these hideous fears \ 50

And madly play with my forefathers' joints ?

And pluck the mangled Tybalt from his shroud?

And, in this rage, with some great kinsman's bone,

As with a club, dash out my desperate brains ?

O, look ! methinks I see my cousin's ghost ~^ — . / (

Seeking out Romeo, that did sprt his body ^»1*^*^'

Upon a rapier's point : stay, Tybalt, stay !

Romeo, I come ! this do I drink to thee.

\She falls upon her bed, ivithin tlie curtains.

76 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Scene IV. Hall in Capulet's house.

Enter Lady Capulet and Nurse.

La. Cap. Hold, take these keys, and fetch more spices,

nurse.
Nurse. They call for dates and quinces in the pastry.

Enter Capulet.

Cap. Come, stir, stir-, stir ! the second cock hath crow'd,
The curfew-bell hath rung, 'tis three o'clock :
Look to the baked meats, good Angelica :
Spare not for cost.

Nurse. Go, you cot-quean, go,

Get you to bed ; faith, you '11 be sick to-morrow
For this night's watching.

Cap. No, not a whit : what ! I have watch'd ere now
All night for lesser cause, and ne'er been sick. 10

La. Cap. Ay, you have been a mouse-hunt in your time ;
But I will watch you from such watching now.

[Exeunt Lady Capulet and Nirse.

Cap. A jealous-hood, a jealous-hood !

Enter three or four Servingmen, with spits, logs, and baskets.

Now, fellow.
What's there.

First Herv. Things for the cook, sir ; but I know not what.

Cap. IV^ake haste, make haste, [Exit First Serv.'] Sirrah,
fetch drier logs :
Call Peter, he will show thee where they are.

Sec. Serv. I have a head, sir, that will find out logs,
And never trouble Peter for the matter. [Exit.

Cap. Mass, and well said ; 20

Thou shalt be logger-head. Good faith, 'tis day :
The county will be here with music straight,

SCENE IV.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 77

For so he said he would : I hear him near. [Mtisic within.
Nurse ! Wife ! What, ho ! What, nurse, I say !

Re-enter Nurse.

Go waken Juliet, go and trim her up ;

I '11 go and chat with Paris : hie, make haste,

Make haste ; the bridegroom he is come already :

Make haste, I say. [^Exexint.

Scene V. Juliet's chamber.

Enter Nurse.

Nurse. Mistress ! what, mistress ! Juliet ! fast, I warrant
her, she :
Why, lamb ! why, lady ! fie, you slug-a-bed !
Why, love, I say ! madam ! sweet-heart ! why, bride !
Marry, and amen, how sound is she asleep !
I must needs wake her. Madam, madam, madam !
Ay, let the county take you in your bed ;
He'n fright you up, i' faith. Will it not be ?

[Undraws the curtains.
What, dress'd ! and in your clothes ! and down again !
I must needs wake you : Lady ! lady ! lady !
Alas, alas ! Help, help ! my lady 's dead ! 10

O, well-a-day, that ever I was born !
Some aqua vitse, ho ! My lord ! my lady !

Enter Lady Capulet.

La. Cap. What noise is here ?

Nurse. O lamentable day !

La. Cap. What is the matter ?

Nurse. Look, look ! O heavy day !

La. Cap. O me, O me ! My child, my only life,

78 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Revive, look iip, or I will die with thee !
Help, lielp ! Call help.

Enter Capulet. ■

Cap. For shame, bring Juliet forth ; her lord is come.

Nu7'se. She 's dead, deceased, she 's dead ; alack the day !

La. Cap. Alack the day, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead !
• Cap. Ha ! let me see her : out, alas ! she 's cold ; 21

Her blood is settled, and her joints are stiff ;
Life and these lips have long been separated :
Death lies on her like an untimely frost
Upon the sweetest flower of all tlie field.

Niirse. O lamentable day !

La. Cap. O woful time !

Cap. Death, that hath ta'en her hence to make me wail.
Ties up my tongue, and will not let me speak.

Enter Friar Laurence and Paris, with Musicians.

Fri. L. Come, is the bride ready to go to church ?

Cap. Ready to go, but never to return. 30

O son ;- the njght before thy wedding-day
Hath Deatli lain with thy wife. There she lies,
C, Flower as she was, deflowered by him.
Death is my son-in-law. Death is my heir ;
My daughter he hath wedded : I will die.
And leave him all ; life, living, all is Death's.

Par. Have I thought long to see this morning's face,
And doth it give me such a sight as this ?

La. Cap. Accursed, unhajjpy, wretch, hateful day !
Most miserable hour that e'er time saw 40

In lasting labour of his pilgrimage !
But one, poor one, one poor and loving child.
But one thing to rejoice and solace in.
And cruel death hath cateh'd it from my sight !

Nurse. O woe ! O woful, woful, woful day !

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 79

Most lamentable day, most woful day,

That ever, ever, I did yet behold !

O day ! 0 dav ! O dav ! O hateful dav !

Never was seen so black a day as this :

O wofvil day, O woful day ! 50

Par. Beguiled, divorced, wronged, spited, slain !

Most detestable death, by thee beguiled,

By cruel cruel thee quite overthrown !

O love ! O life ! not life, but love in death !

Cap. Despised, distressed, hated, martyr'd, kill'd !

Uncomfortable time, why earnest thou now

To mui'der, murder our solemnity ?

O child ! O child ! my soul, and not my child !

Dead art thou ! Alack ! my child is dead ;

And with my child my joys are buried. 60

Fri. L. Peace, ho, for shame ! confusion's cure lives not /ak^^^*-'

In these confusions. Heaven and yourself tt-aAts'ji*'

Had part in this fair maid ; now heaven hath all.

And all the better is it for the maid :

Your part in her you could not keep from death,

But heaven keeps his part in eternal life.

The most you sought was her promotion ;

For 'twas your heaven she should be advanced :

And weep ye now, seeing she is advanced

Above the clouds, as high as heaven itself ? 70

O, in this love, you love your child so ill,

That you run mad, seeing that she is well : ^

She 's not well married that lives married long ; .Ciu>a-* 14.

But she 's best married that dies married young.

Dry up your tears, and stick your rosemary;

On this fair corse ; and, as the custom is,

In all her best array bear her to church :

For though faud, nature bids us all lament, «r-t>-a^*- • ^x^^^-^vm:-

Yet nature's tears are reason's merriment.

Cap. All things that we ordained festival, ^x' 80

Turn from their office to black f uneraT;

80 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Our instruments to melancholy bells,

Our wedding cheer to a sad burial feast,

Our solemn hymns to sullen dirges change, ^ , AH«.t,»*,.w/ ^ W<

Our bridal flowers serve for a buried corse, 'Muj^A^a^^T

And all things change them to the contrary.

Fri. L. Sir, go you in ; and, madam, go with him ;
And go. Sir Paris ; every one prepare
To follow this fair corse unto her grave :
The heavens do lour upon you for some ill ; 90

Move them no more by crossing their high will.

[Exeunt Capulet, Lady Capulet, Paris, and Friar.

First Mks. Faith, we may put up our pipes, and be gone.

Nurse. Honest good fellows, ah, put up, put up ;
For, well you know, this is a pitiful case. \E.vit.

First Mus. Aj, by my troth, the case may be amended.

Enter Peter.

Pet. Musicians, O, musicians, ' Heart's ease, Heart's ease :'
O, an you will have me live, play ' Heart's ease.'

First Mus. Why ' Heart's ease ' ?

Pet. O, musicians, because my heart itself plays ' My heart
is full of woe : ' O, play me some merry dump, to comfort
me. 101

First Mus. Not a dump we ; 'tis no time to play now.

Pet. You will not, then ?

First Mus. No.

Pet. I will then give it you soundly.

First Mus. "What will you give us ?

Pet. No money, on my faith, but the gleek ; I will give
you the minstrel.

First Mus. Then will I give you the serving-creature.

Pet Then will I lay the serving-creature's dagger on
your pate. I will carry no crotchets : I '11 re you, I '11 fa
you ; do you note me ? 112

First Mus. And you re us and fa us, you note us.

O

SCENE v.] ROMEO AND JULIET. gl

Sec. Mils. Pray you, put up your dagger, and put out
your wit.

Pet. Then have at you with mv wit ! I will dry-beat vou
with an iron wit, and put up my iron dagger. Answer me
like men :

' When griping grief the heart doth wound,

And doleful dumps the mind oppress, 120

Then music with her silver sound ' —
why 'silver sound'? why 'music with her silver sound'?
What say you, Simon Catling ?
First Mus. Marry, sir, because silver hath a sweet sound.
Pet. Pretty ! What say you, Hugh Eebeck ?
Sec. Mus. I say ' silver sound,' because musicians sound
for silver.

Pet. Pretty too ! What say you, James Soundpost ?
Third Mus. Faith, I know not what to say.' 129

Pet. O, I cry you mercy ; you are the singer : I will say
for you. It is 'music with her silver sound,' because musi-
cians have no gold for sounding ;

' Then music with her silver sound

With speedy help doth lend redress.' {E.vit.

First Mus. What a pestilent knave is this same !
Sec. M^is. Hang him. Jack ! Come, we '11 in here ; tarry
for the mourners, and stay dinner. [Exeunt.

ACT V.

Scene I. Mantua. A street.

Enter Eomeo.

Rom. If I may trust the flattering truth of sleep.
My dreams presage some joyful news at hand :
My bosom's lord sits lightly in his throne ;
And all this day an unaccustom'd spirit
; Lifts me above the ground with cheerful thoughts.

82 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

I dreamt my lady came and found me dead —

Strange dream, that gives a dead man leave to think ! —

And breathed such life with kisses in my lips,

That I revived, and was an emperor.

Ah me ! how sweet is love itself possess'd, 10

When but love's shadows are so rich in joy !

Enter Balthasar, hooted.

20

News from Verona ! — How now, Balthasar !
Dost thou not bring me letters from the friar 1
How doth my lady ? Is my father well ?
How fares my Juliet ? that I ask again ;
For nothing can be ill, if she be well.

Bal. Then she is well, and nothing can be ill :
Her body sleeps in Capel's monument.
And her immortal part with angels lives.
I saw her laid low in her kindred's vavilt.
And presently took post to tell it you :
O, pardon me for bringing these ill news,
Since you did leave it for my office, sir.

Rom. Is it even so ? then I defy you, stars !
Thou know'st my lodging : get me ink and paper.
And hire post-horses ; I will hence to-night.

Bal. I do beseech you^ sir, have patience j__
Yours looks are pale and^wjld, and do import
Some misadventure.

'Emn. ' Tush, thou art deceived :

Leave me, and do the thing I bid thee do.
Hast thou no letters to me from the friar 1

Bal. No, my good lord.

Rom. No matter : get thee gone.

And hire those horses ; I '11 be with thee straight.

[Exit Balthasar.
Well, Juliet, I will lie with thee to-night.
Let's see for means : O mischief, thou art swift

30

SCEJJE I.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 83

To enter in the thoughts of desperate men !

I do remember an apothecary, —

And hereabouts a' dwells, — which late I noted ^x.^

In tatter'd weeds, with overwhelming brows, ^it*;<J/.

Culling of simples ; meagre were his looks, ..^,,. ^ 40

Sharp misery had worn him to the bones :

And in his needy shop a tortoise hung, «,-^t^%

An alligator stiiff'd, and other skins

Of ill-shaped fishes ; and about his shelves

A beggarly account of empty boxes, ? . '^i ^

Green earthen pots, bladders and musty seeds.

Remnants of packthread and old cakes of roses,

Were thinly scatter'd, to make up a show.*

Noting this penury, to myself I said

' An if a man did need a poison now, 50

Whose sale is present death in Mantua,

Here lives a caitiff Avretch would sell it him.

0, this same thought did Init forerun mv need ;

And this same needy man must sell it me. ^

As I remember, this should be the house.

Being holiday, the beggar's shop is shut.

What, ho ! apothecary !

Enter Apothecary.

Ap. Who calls so loud ?

Rom. Come hither, man. I see that thou art poor :
Hold, there is forty ducats : let me have

A dram of poison, such soon-speeding gear .^«..*/vii^-f •60' ***"

As will disperse itself through all the veins
That the life- weary taker may fall dead
And that the trunk may be discharged of breath
As violently as hasty powder fired ^
Dotli hurry from the fatal caiinon's womb.

Ap. Such mortal drugs I have ; but Mantua's law
Is death to any he that utters them.

^«l^

84 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

Rom. Art thou so bare and full of wretchedness,
And fear'st to die ? famine is in thy cheeks,
Need and oppression starveth in thine eyes, 70

Contempt and beggary hangs upon thy back ;
The world is not thy friend nor the world's law ;
The world affords no law to make thee rich ;
Then be not poor, but break it, and take this.

Ap. My poverty, but not my will, consents.

Rom. I pay thy poverty, and not thy will.

Ap. Put this in any liquid thing you will,
And drink it off ; and, if you had the strength
Of twenty men, it would dispatch you straight.

Rom. There is thy goldjj^rse poison to men's souls, 80
'Doing more nuuders in this loathsome world,
Than these jjoor compounds that thou mayst not sell.___^
, I sell thee poison TThou hast sold me none.
Farewell : buy food, and get thyself in flesh.
Come, cordial and not poison, go with me
To Juliet's grave ; for there must I use thee. {Exeunt.

Scene II. Friar Laurences cell.
Enter Friar John.
Fri. J. Holy Franciscan friar ! brother, ho !
Enter Friar Laurence.

Fri. L. This same should be the voice of Friar John.
Welcome from Mantua : what says Romeo ?
Or, if his mind be writ, give me his letter.

Fri. J. Going to find a bare-foot brother out,
One of our order, to associate me,
Here in this city visiting the sick.
And finding him, the searchers of the town,
Suspecting that we both were in a house

SCENE II.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 85

Where the infectious pestilence did reign, 10

Seal'd up the doors, and would not let us forth ;
So that my speed to Mantua there was stay'd.

Fri. L. Who bare my letter, then, to Romeo ?

Fri. J. I could not send it, — here it is again, —
Nor get a messenger to bring it thee,
So fearful were they of infection.

Fri. L. Unhappy fortune ! by my brotherhood.
The letter was not nice but full of charge L ^-^<^<.u
Of dear import, and tlie neglecting it

May do much danger. Friar John, go hence ; 20

Get me an iron crow, and brint; it straight
Unto my cell.

Fri. J. Brother, I '11 go and bring it thee. [^E.rit.

Fri. L. Now must I to the monument alone ;
Within this three hours will fair Juliet wake :
She will beshrew me nuich that Romeo
Hath had no notice of these accidents ;
But I will write again to Mantua,
And keep her at my cell till Romeo come ;
Poor living corse, closed in a dead man's tomb ! {Exit. 30

Scene III. A churchyard ; in it a tomb belonging to the

Capulets.

Enter Paris, and his Page bearing floioers and a torch.

Par. Give me thy torch, boy : hence, and stand aloof :
Yet put it out, for I would not be seen.
Under yond yew-trees lay thee all along,
Holding thine ear close to the hollow ground ;
So shall no foot upon the churchyard tread.
Being loose, unfirm, with digging up of graves,
But thou shalt hear it : whistle then to me.
As signal that thou hear'st something approach.
Give me those flowers. Do as I bid thee, go.

86 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

Page. [Aside] I am almost afraid to stand alone 10

Here in the churchyard ; yet I will adventure. [Retires.

Fa^ Sweet flower, with flowers thy bridal bed I sti-ew, —
O woe ! thy canopy is dust and stones ; —
Which with sweet water nightly I will dew,

Or, wanting that, with tears distill'd by moans :
The obsequies that I for thee will keep
Nightly shall be to strew thy grave and weep.

[The Page lohistles.
The boy gives warning something doth approach.
What cursed foot wanders this way to-night,
To cross my obsequies and true love's rite ? 20

What, with a torch ! muffle me, night, awliile [Retires.

Enter Eomeo aiid Balthasar, ^vith a torch, inattock, etc.

Rom. Give me that mattock and the wrenching iron. fj*. < *
Hold, take this letter ; early in the morning
See thou deliver it to my lord and father.
Give me the light : \\]>o\\ thy life. I charge thee,
Whate'er thou heai-'st or seest, stand all aloof, ^,.*«»*-6t ***^ "-
And do not interrupt me i]i my course.
Why I descend into this bed of death.
Is partly to behold my lady's face ;

But chiefly to take thence from her dead finger 30

A 2>i'ecious ring, a ring that I nmst use
In dear employment : therefore hence, be gone : '^^
But if thou, jealous, dost return to pry ut<-*ui^.*^fi'u ■
In what I further shall intend to do.
By heaven, I will tear thee joint by joint
And strew this himgry churchyard with thy limbs :
The time and my intents are savau'e-wild.
More fierce and more inexorable far

Than emjity tigers or the roaring sea.

5aZ. I will be gone, sir, and not trouble you. 40

Rom. So shalt thou show me friendsbip. Take thou that :

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 87

Live, and be prosperous : and farewell, good fellow.

Bal. {^Aside] For all this same, I '11 hide me hereabout :
His looks I fear, and his intents I doubt. [^Retires.

Rom. Thou detestable maw, thou womb of death,*;
Goi'ged with the dearest morsel of the earth,
Thus I enforce thy rotten jaws to open.
And, in despite, I '11 cram thee with more food !

[Opens the tomb.

Par. This is that banish'd haughty Montague, ^ '
That murder'd my love's cousin, with which grief, 50

It is supposed, the fair creature died';
And here is come to do some villanous shame
To the dead bodies : I Avill apprehend him. [Comes fonuard.
Stop thy unhallow'd toil, vile Montague !
Can vengeance be pursued further than death ?
Condemned villain, I do apprehend thee :
Obey, and go with me ; for thou must die.

Rom. I must indeed ; and therefore came I hither.
Good gentle youth, tempt not a desperate man ;
Fly hence, and leave me : think upon these gone ; 60

Let them affright thee. I beseech thee, youth,

jPut not another sin upon my head, .

By urging me to fury : O, be gone !
'■ By Tieaven, I love thee better than myself ;
For I come hither arm'd against myself ;
Stay not, be gone ; live, and hereafter say,
A madman's mercy bade thee run away.

Tar. I do defy thy conjurations,
And apprehend thee for a felon here.

Rom. Wilt thou provoke me ? then have at thee, boy ! 70

[They fight.

Page. O Lord, they. fight I I will go call the watch. Exit.

Par. O, I am slain ! [Falls.'] If thou be merciful.
Open the tomb, lay me with Juliet. [Dies.

Rom. In faith, I will. Let me peruse this face.
Mercutio's kinsman, noble County Paris !

ok! \

88 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

What said my man, when my betossed soul

Did not attend him as we rode ? I think

He told me Paris should have married Juliet :

Said he not so 1 or did I dream it so ?

Or am I mad, hearing him talk of Juliet, 80

To think it was so ? O, give me thy hand,

One writ with me in sour misfortune's book

I '11 bury thee in a triumphant grave ;

A grave ! O. no ! a lantern, slaughter'd youth,

For here lies Juliet, and her beauty makes

This vault a feasting presence full of light.

Death, lie thou there, by a dead man interr'd.

[Lai/ing Paris in the tomb.
vHow oft when men are at the point of death
/Have they been merry ! which their keepers call ^^^i u ./-A**^J
|A lightning before death : O, how maj' T 90

Call this a lightning ? O my love I my wife !

Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath.

Hath had no jDower yet upon thy beauty :

Thou art not conquer'd ; beauty's ensign yet

Is crimson in thy lips and in thy cheeks,

And death's pale flag is not advanced there.

Tybalt, liest thou there in thy bloody sheet ?

O, what more favour can I do to thee,

Than with that hand that cut thy youth in twain

To sunder his that was thine enemy ? 100

Forgive me, cousin ! Ah, dear Juliet,

Why art thou yet so fair ? shall I believe
ZThat unsubstantial death is amorous, <^ii, ii' '^•^■»<' "*

^And that the lean abhorred monster keeps
PThee here in dark to be his paramour ?
'For fear of that, I still will stay with thee : ; /

And never from this palace of dim night

Dejiart again : here, here will I remain

With worms tliat are tliy cliamber-maids ; O, here

Will I set ujj my everlasting rest, 110

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 89

And shake the yoke of inauspicious stars '^^'^ ^'^
From this world-wearied flesh. Eyes, look your last !
Arms, take your last embrace ! and, lips, O you
The doors of bi-eath, seal with a righteous kiss
A dateless bargain to engrossing death I

vome, bitter conduct, come, unsavoury guide ! .'i^W"**-*-^*^ '-■

?hou desperate pilot, now at once run on

Che dashing rocks thy sea-sick weary bark !
Here 's to my love ! {Drinks^ O true apothecary !
Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss I die. {Dies. 120

Enter, at the other end of the churchyard, Friar Laurence,
with a lantern, croiv, and spade.

Fri. L. Saint Francis be my speed ! how oft to-night
Have my old feet stumbled at graves ! Who 's there ?

Bal. Here 's one, a friend, and one that knows you well.

Fri. L. Bliss be upon you ! Tell me, good my friend,
What torch is yond, that vainly lends his light
To grubs and eyeless skulls ? as I discern.
It burneth in the Capels' monument.

Bal. It doth so, holy sir ; and there 's my master,
One that you love.

Fri. L. Who is it ?

Bal. Eomeo.

Fri. L. How long hath he been there ?

Bal. Full half an hour. 130

Fri. L. Go with me to the vault.

Bal. I dare not, sir :

My master knows not but I am gone hence ;
And fearfully did menace me with death,
If I did stay to look on his intents.

Fri. L. Stay, then ; I 'U go alone. Fear comes upon me :
O. much I fear some ill unlucky thing.

Bal. As I did sleep under this yew-tree here
I dreamt my master and another fought, ^ •

90 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

And that my master slew him.

Fri. L. Romeo ! [Advances.

'Alack, alack, what blood is this, which stains 140

The stony entrance of this sepulchre 1
What mean these niasterless and gory swords
iTo lie discoloiu-'d by this place of 2)eace ? [Enters the tomh.
Romeo ! O, pale ! Who else ? wliat, Paris too ?
And steep'd in blood ? Ah, what an unkind hour
Is guilty of this lamentable chance !
The lady stirs. [Juliet wakes.

Jul. O, comfortable friar ! where is my lord ?
I do remember well where I should be,
And there I am. Where is my Romeo ? [Noise vnthin. 150

Fri. L. I hear some noise. Lady, come from that nest
Of death, contagion, and unnatural sleep :
A greater power than we can contradict
Hath thwarted our intents. Come, come away.
Thy husband in thy bosom there lies dead ;
And Paris too. Come, I '11 dispose of thee
Among a sisterhood of holy nuns :
Stay not to question, for the watch is coming ;
Come, go, good Juliet [Noise again], I dare no longer stay.

Jtd. Go, get thee hence, for I will not away. 160

[E.vit Fri. L.
What's here ? a cup, closed in my true love's hand %
Poison, I see, hath been his timeless ejid :
O churl ! drunk all, and left no friendly drop
To hel]} me after l I Avill kiss thy lips ;
Haply some poison yet doth hang on them,
To make me die with a restorative. [Kissts him.

Thy lips are warm.

First Watch. [ Withiii] Lead, bo}- : which way ?

Jid. Yea, noise ? then I '11 be brief. O happy dagger I

[Snatching Romeo's dagger.
This is thy sheath [Stabs herself] ; there rust, and let me die.

[Falls on Romeo's body, and dies.

SCENE III ] ROMEO AND JULIET. 91

Enter Watch, tinth the Page of Paris.

Page. This is the place ; there, where the torch doth burn.
First Watch. The ground is bloody ; search about the
churchyard : 171

Go, some of you, whoe'er you find attach.
Pitiful sight ! here lies the county slain ;
And Juliet bleeding, warm, and newly dead.
Who here hath lain this two days buried.

Go, tell the prince : run to the Caj)ulets : /v

Raise i,ip the Montagues : some others search : /\ n ^ \ <^

^^"^ We see the ground whereon these woes do^li^^''^/ // ' ' ^ 4-»>ui/

.j>^ But tlieJ:nie-gjjjimdx>£allJdi£se„piteou_s woes ^J -j k^^ "T^ '^ ^^
Cj^ We cannot without circumstance descry. '4 180 ^

Re-enter some of the Watch, mth Balthasar.

Sec. Watch. Here 's Romeo's man ; we found him in the

cliurchyard.
First Watch. Hold him in safety till the prince come

hither.

He-enter others of the AVatch, idth Friar Laurence.

Third Watch. Here is a friar, that trembles, sighs, and
weeps :
We took this mattock and this spade from him,
As lie was caming from this churchyard side.

First Watclt. A great suspicion : stay the friar too.

Enter the Prince and Attendants.

Prince. What misadventure is so early ujj,
That calls our person from our morning's rest ?

Enter Capulet, Lady Capulet, and others.

Cap. What should it be, that they so shriek abroad ?
La. Cap. The people in the street cry Romeo, 190

Some Juliet, and some Paris ; and all run,

92 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

With open outcry, toward our moiuiment.

Prince. What fear is this which startles in our ears ?

First Watch. Sovereign, here lies the County Paris slain,
And Romeo dead ; and Juliet, dead before.
Warm and new kill'd.

Prince. Search, seek, and know how this foul murder comes.

Fh-st Watch. Here is a friar, and slaughter'd Romeo's man ;
With instruments upon them, fit to open
These dead men's tombs. 200

Cap. O heavens ! O wife, look how our daughter bleeds !
This dagger hath mista'en, for, lo, his house
Is empty on the back of Montague,
And it mis-sheathed in my daughter's bosom ! ir~^

La. Cap. O me_! tjiis sight^of death is as a bell, jl ijl'
A Tliat warns my old an:e to^ se])ulchre. V ^ ri^f^

Enter Montague and others.

Prince, Come, Montague ; for thou art early up.
To see thy son and heir more early down.

Mon. Alas, my liege, my wife is dead to-night ;
Grief of my son's exile hath stopp'd her breath : 210

What further woe conspires against mine age ?

Prince. Look, and thou shalt see.

Mon. U thou untaught ! what manners is in this,
To press before thy father to a grave 1 ^-t.*-*^

Prince. Seal up the mouth of outrage for a while, / 't^ ^d t^'^'^
Till we can clear these ambiguities,

Ajidjciiow their spinng, their head, their true^descent ; <>-i^«-«^
y And then will I be geii¥iSr of your woes, -'4^^

And lead vou even to death : meantime forbear,
And let mischance be slave to patience. 220

Bring forth the parties of suspicion.

Fri. L. I am the greatest, able to do least,
Yet most suspected, as the time and place
Doth make against me, of this direful murder ;

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 93

And here I stand, both to impeach and purge *<Ci4,4C 'y»^^
Myself condemned and myself excused. '

Prince. Then say at once what tliou dost know in this.

Fri. L. I will be brief, for my short date of breath
Is not so long as is a tedious tale.

Romeo, there dead, was husband to that Juliet ; 230

And she, there dead, that Romeo's faithful wife :
I married them ; and their stol'n marriage-day
Was Tybalt's dooms-day, whose untimely death
Banish'd the new-made bridegroom from this city,
For whom, and not for Tybalt, Juliet pined.
You, to remove that siege of grief from her,
Betroth'd and would have married her perforce
To County Paris : then comes she to me,
And, with wild looks, bid me devise some mean
To rid her from this second marriage, 240

Or in my cell there would she kill herself.
Then gave I her, so tutor'd by my art,
Ajleeping potion ; which so took effect
As I intended, for it wrought on her
The form of death : meantime I writ to Romeo,
That he should hither come as this dire nicht.
To help to take her from her borrowed grave.

Being the time the potion's force should cease. L "^^^^

But he which bore my letter, Friar John, /.jJ-^^ i-

Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight '^'^j.x^<y<^-^'i'b^

^-^-

Return'd my letter back. Then all alone

At the prefix'd hour of her waking.

Came I to take her from her kindred's vault ;

Meaning to keep her closely at my cell.

Till I conveniently could send to Romeo :

But when I came, some minute ere the time

Of her awaking, here untimely lay

The noble Paris and true Romeo dead.

She wakes ; and I entreated her come forth.

And bear this work of heaven with patience : 260

94 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

But then a noise did scare me from the tomb ;
And she, too desperate, would not go witli me,
Bnt, as it seems, did violence on herself.
All this I know ; and to the marriage
Her nnrse is privy : and, if anght in this
Miscarried by my fault, let my old life
Be sacrificed, some hour before his time.
Unto the rigour of severest law. I

Prince. We still have known thee for a holy man.
Where 's Romeo's man ? what can he say in this ? 270

Bal. I brought my master news of Juliet's death ;
And then in post he came from Mantua
To this same place, to this same monument.
This letter he early bid me give his father.
And threaten'd me with death, going in the vault.
If I departed not and left him there.

Prince. Give me the letter ; I will look on it.
Where is the county's page, that raised the watch 'I
Sirrah, what made your master in this place ? 279

Page. He came with flowers to strew his lady's grave ;
And bid me stand aloof, and so I did :
Anon comes one with light to ope the tomb ;
And by and by my master drew on him ;
And then I ran away to call the watch.

Prince. This letter doth make good the friar's words,
Their course of love, the tidings of her death :
And here he writes that he did buy a poison
Of a poor 'pothecary, and therewithal
Came to this vault to die, and lie with Juliet.
Where be these enemies ? Capulet ! Montague ! 290

v^See^, what_a^scourge is laid uponj^our hate,,
^^fiat heaven finds means to kill your joys with love.
7 AirdTT for wTiikihg at your discords too
/ Have lost a brace of kinsmen : all are punish'd.

Cap. O brother Montague, give me thy hand
This is my daughter's jointure, for no more

SCENE III.] ROMEO AND JULIET. 95

Can I demand.

Mon. But I can give thee more :

For I will raise her statue in pure gold ;
That whiles Verona by that name is known,
There shall no figure at such rate be set 300

As that of true and faithful Juliet.

Cap. As rich shall Eomeo's by his lady's lie ;
Poor sacrifices of our enmity !

Prince. A glooming peace this morning with it brings ;

The sun, for sorrow, will not show his head :
Go hence, to have more talk of these sad things ;

Some shall be pardon'd, and some punished :
For never was a story of more woe
Than this of Juliet and her Komeo. $ {E.veunt.

NOTES.

Prologue.

1. alike, equal ; cp. K. J. ii. 1. 231, "Strength match'd with
strength, and power confronted power : Both are alike ; and both
alike we like. "

2. fair Verona. The capital of one of the nine provinces of
Venetia, and of all the cities of those provinces second in im-
portance to Venice alone. Originally founded by the Gauls, it
afterwards became a Koman colony, and was the residence of the
Lombard princes in the middle ages ; later on it suffered
severely from the contests between the Ghibellines and the
Guelphs, the former the supporters of the imperial authority
in Italy, the latter its opponents. The supposed house of the
Capulets and the tomb of Juliet are still shown, though the tra-
dition regarding both is without any authority. Borneo and Juliet
is, however, founded on events that actually took place, and
Escalus, prince of Verona, was Bartolommeo della Scala, who
died in 130,3.

3. grudge, ill will, hatred : mutiny, discord, the active mani-
festation of the ill-will cherished by the two families ; for this
sense of the word, cp. below, i. 5. 82, "You'll make a mutiny
among my guests"; Cor. ii. 3. 264, "This mutiny were better
put in hazard, Than stay, past doubt, for greater." The original
sense of the word is merely ' movement,' thence ' commotion,' it
being through the French from the Lat. movere, to move.

4. Where, in which strife : though in civil blood, civil hands,
civil means that which relates to the community of citizens, there
is probably in the latter phrase a play upon the word in its sense
of 'polite,' 'well-mannered.'

5. these two foes, the two hostile families.

6. star-cross'd, destined by the stars to ill-fortune. For a
fuller reference to the astrological beliefs of the time, see Lear,
i. 2. 112-144.

96

PROLOGUE.] NOTES. 97

7, 8. Whose . . . strife, the ill-fated termination of whose love
buries hi tlieir graves the strife that raged between their parents ;
misadventured, unfortunate ; one of those adjectives formed
from nouns M'hich are so frequent in Shakespeare, and which
have generally been mistaken for participles : Do, the quartos
give Doth, Avhich is justified by some on the grounds that it is
the old southern plural in -eth, as in M. V. iii. 2. 33, "Where
men enforced doth speak everything " (the reading of the first
folio), by others as an instance of the singular verb where the sense
of the subject is collective. The latter seems the more probable
case here.

9. The fearful ... love, tlie terrible course of their love marked
out for death ; for passage, cp. 7'. C. ii. 3. I4U, " The 2mssage
and whole carriage of this action Rode on his tide."

11. but, except.

12. the two ... stage, that in which our stage deals for two
hours, the transaction with Mhich our play is concerned. The
duration of a plaj^ is frequently spoken of in tlie prologues to
them as being of two hours only, tliough three hours is sometimes
given.

li. miss, be deficient, or, perhaps, miss the mark. This pro-
logue, which is written on the same metrical scheme as the
Sonnets, viz., two rhymed quatrains closing in a rhymed couplet,
is omitted in the folios, and by some is supposed not to be Shake-
speare's.

Act I. Scene I.

1. carry coals, put up with insults. A phrase very common in
the old dramatists and owing its origin to the fact that the
carriers of coals were the lowest of menials. Cp. e.g. H. V. iii.
2. 49, " Nym and Bardolpli are sworn brothers in filching, and
in Calais they stole a fire-shovel : I knew by that piece of service
the men would carry coals " ; Jonson, Every Man Out of His
Humour, v. 1. IS, 9, " here comes one that will carry coals, ergo,
will hold my dog " ; Chapman, May Day, iii. , speaks of "an nti-
cole-carryiiKj spirit." Fi'om the same source we have the word
hlachjuarcl as a term of abuse, it being originally applied to " the
smutty regiment," as Gifford calls them, " who attended the
[sovereign's] progresses, and rode with the pots and kettles, which,
with every otlier article of furniture, were then moved from
palace to palace "... .

2. colliers, a term of contempt, not merely from their being
ready to carry coals, i.e. put up with insults, but from the black-
ness of their appearance. So, in T. N. iii. 4. 130, Satan for his
blackness is called " foul collier."

98 • ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

3. an we be ... draw, if our temper be up, we will draw our
swords ; for an, see Abb. § 101.

4. Ay, ... collar, yes, so long as you live, do your best to get
out of difficulties ; merely said for the sake of the pun on colliers,
choler, and collar.

5. moved, excited, stirred to anger.

6. But thou ... strike, but it takes a good deal to provoke you
to such a step.

7. A dog ... me, I am easily provoked to striking whenever I
meet one of the rascally retinue of the Montague household.

10, 1. shall ... stand, is certain to provoke me to take up my
stand for a combat with him ; for shall, to denote inevitable
futurity without reference to will, desire, see Abb. § 315 : will
take the wall, will assert my right to walk nearest the wall, on
the inside of the pathway, not allow myself to be thrust off the
pavement on to the roadway ; and so to get the better of any one.

12, 3. goes to the wall, is thrust against tlie wall ; a j^roverbial
expression for getting the worst of a dispute. .Schmidt (Lex.)
quotes from the Life and Death of Thomas Lord Cromwell (a play
sometimes attributed to Shakespeare), iii. 3, "though the drops
be small, Yet have they force to force men to the wall."

14, 5._jth8 ^yeaker vessels, women ; a term taken from the
Bible, i. Peter, iii. 7, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them
according to knowledge, giving honour imto the wife, as unto
the iveaker vessel."

16. men, servants ; cp. 7'e?M?x ii. 1. 274, " 'Ban, 'Ban, Cacali-
ban Has a new master ; get a new man."

19. 'Tis all one, that makes no difference. In the previous
line Hartley conjectures 'not us' for "us," which would make
Sampson's answer more pertinent.

22. thy tool, your weapon, sword ; generally in this sense used
in a contemptuous way : here comes two, for the inflection in -s,
preceding a plural subject, see Abb. § 335. Malone quotes from
Gascoigne's Devise of a Masque a passage to show that the par-
tizans of the Montagues wore a token in their hats to distinguish
them from their enemies, the Capulets, and that hence, through-
out the play, they are known at a distance.

24. quarrel, provoke them to fight by using taunting words :
back, support ; now more commonly ' back up. ' Delius compares
i. H. IV. ii. 4. 166, "call you that hacking of your friends? a
plague upon svxch backing I "

26. Fear me not, do not fear as to the way in which I shall
behave, do not be afraid of my running away ; me, for me, as
regards me.

SCENE I.] NOTES. . 99

27. marry, a corruption of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, equi-
valent to 'by Mary,' and used as a petty oath; a corruption
employed in order to avoid the statutes against profane swearing:
I fear thee ! do you fancy that I fear you ? pretending to take
the words in their more ordinary sense.

28. Let us . . . begin, let us make sure of having the law on our
side by leaving it to them to begin the quarrel.

30. list, choose, please ; from the A.S. hist, pleasure ; often
used in old authors as an impersonal verb, ' it lists me, ' like ' it
likes me.'

31. Nay, as they dare, don't say 'as they pJease,' but rather
'as they dare.' Sampson throughout the dialogue is the greater
blusterer : bite my thumb, an insulting gesture. Singer quotes
Cotgrave : " Faire la nique : to mockeby nodding or lifting up
the chinne ; or more properly, to threaten or defie, by putting the
thumhe naile into the mouth , and ivith a jerJce [from the upper
teeth) make it to hiacke." An Italian custom intended to provoke
a quaiTel.

32. if they bear it, if they should take it quietly, not resent it.
36. of our side, on our side.

42. If you do, . . . you. An elliptical expression for ' you say that
you do not quarrel, but if you do, I am ready to meet you.'

45. Well, sir. Sampson is non-plussed and does not like to
venture on the word 'better.'

46. here comes ... kinsmen. As it is Benvolio, one of the Mon-
tagues, who first comes on the scene, Steevens is probably right
in supposing that Gregory's eyes are looking in the direction
from which Tybalt, who enters immediately afterwards, is
coming, and does not see Benvolio.

49, 50. thy swashing blow, that crushing blow of yours for
which you are so famous. To ' swash ' is to strike with a heavy
and sounding blow. Shakespeare also uses tlie word in the sense
of 'swaggering,'^. Y. L. i. 3. 122, " We '11 have a sjiusM?;;/ and a
martial outside " ; and swasher for a bully, H. V. iii. 2. 30, "As
young as I am, I have observed these three S2vnshers. "

53. What, art thou . . . hinds ? What ! have you drawn your
sword to take part in a quarrel between these cowardly boors ?
Is that the sort of occupation for a man of your rank ? If you
want to fight, you will find in me a foe worthy of your steel.

54. Turn thee . . . death, leave those hinds and face me from
whose sword you will meet your death.

56. manage it, wield it, make use of it ; to manage, in the
sense of wielding weapons, was formerly a common expression ;
cp. i?. //. iii. 2. 118, "Yea, distaff women manage rusty bills
Against thy seat"; ii. H. IV. iii. 2. 292, "Come, manage me

100 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

your caliver"; 301, "a' would manafje you his piece thus."
Literally meaning to ' handle,' from Lat. maims, a hand, it is
now more commonly used in a figurative sense : witli me, in co-
operation with me.

57. What, drawn, ... peace ! The " fiery Tybalt" cannot con-
ceive the idea of a sword being drawn for any other purpose than
that of fighting. For drawn, in this absolute sense, cp. H. V. ii.
L 39, " 0 well a day. Lady, if he be not drawn now."

59. Have at thee, coward ! here goes for a blow at you.
Shakespeare has also " have after," " have to," " have through,"
" hare with " ; ' let me,' or ' let us,' having to be supplied.

60. Clubs, bills, partisans ! a ccrmmon cry in affrays in London
for armed persons to part the combatants. The clubs were those
borne by the London apprentices who were called in for this
purpose, though sometimes the cry was raised to stir up a dis-
turbance ; for the cry in the former case, cp. T. A. ii. 1. 37,
" Clubs, clubs/ these lovers will not keep the peace" ; in the latter,
H. VIII. V. 4. 53, " I missed the meteor once, and hit that
woman ; who cried out ' Clubs ! ' when I might see from far some
forty truncheons drawn to her succour " ; bills, originally a kind
of pike carried by the English infantry, later on the weapon with
which the civic watchmen were armed ; partisans, much the
same as tlie pike or halberd ; etymology doubtful.

Stage Direction. In his gown, i.e. what we should now call
dressing-gown ; showing, as Delius points out, that he had been
disturbed in his night's rest.

62. my long sword. " The weapon used in active warfare ; a
lighter, shorter, and less desperate weapon was used for orna-
ment, to which we have other allusions. [A. W. ii. 1. 32, 3]
' Till honour be bought up and no sword worn But one to dance
with ' " (Singer).

63. a crutch, a crutch ! call rather for a crutch to support your
feeble limbs ; the sword is no weapon for you.

65. in spite of me, not • notwith-standing me,' as the words
would now mean, but in malicious hostility towards me.

69. Profaners ... steel, who profane the use of M'eapons by
dying them in the blood of your fellow-citizens.

74. mistemper'd, furious, but also involving the idea of tem-
pered, welded, fashioned, to an evil use. To ' temper ' steel is
to bring it to the proper degree of hardness by plunging it into
icy-cold water when red-hot ; cp. 0th. v. 2. 253. In its meta-
phorical sense mistempered occurs in A'. •/. v. 1. 12, " This
inundation of mintemper'd humour Rests by you only to be
qualified."

75. moved, sc. to wrath.

SCENE ].] NOTES. 101

76. bred of an airy word, having their origin in tlie Tn-eath of
taunting words.

70. ancient, eklerly.

80. their .. ornaments, the dress and weapons (sc. walking
sticks) suitable to tJieir time of life and gravity. In i. //. VI. iv.
1. 29, the sword is called the " ornaiiiriif of knighthood," and in
M. A. V. 4, 125, in the " reverend staft"" (used with a double en-
/rudrc) the reference is to the walking-sticks or staves headed
with a cross piece of hoi-n or sometimes of amber which were
carried by elderly persons.

81, 2. To wield ... hate, to wield old weapons eaten up liy rust
in order to separate you M'liose hearts are eaten up with hatred ;
' canker,' a doublet of ' cancer,' is sonjething that corrodes, eats
into, a substance, the former being used especially of rust, or of
a worm that preys upon blossoms, the latter of the tumonr M'hich
eats into the flesh ; both from Lat. cancer, a crab. Cp. V. A.
767, " Yowl-cankerivg rust the hidden treasure eats." For par-
tisans, see note on 1. 60, above.

84. the forfeit of the peace, the penalty due for breahing the
peace. A forfeit is a thing lost by a misdeed, and we speak of
the ' forfeit of the crime, ' but not ' the forfeit of the peace. ' The
MOrd is ultimately from the Lat. foris facere, to do or act abroad
or beyond.

85. For this time, for the present : all the rest, all except
Capulet.

88. our further pleasure, what else we are pleased to determine.

89. Free-town, a translation of the Villa franca in the Italian
story on which the play is founded.

91. new abroach, newly stirring, running afresh ; abroach is
on broach, from the M. E. j^hrase setten on broche, and to broach
is to pierce a cask in order to set tlie liquor running by inserting
a peg or spit (broach). Cp. ii. //. IV. iv. 2. 14, " What mischiefs
miglit he set abroach "; and, in the literal sense, of to spit, H. V.,
V. Chor. 32, " Bringing rebellion broarhcrl on his sword."

92. by, present, at hand, on the spot.

94. close fighting, in hand to hand combat.

95. in the instant, at the instant, the vei-y same minute.

96. prepared, sc for fighting, by being drawn.

99. Who, for who personifying irrational antecedents, see Abb.
§ 264 : nothing, in no way : withal, with the stroke of his sword ;
cp. 2Iarb. V. 8. 9, "As easy maj^est thou the intrenchant air
^^'ith thy keen sword impress as make me bleed" ; Hainl. iv. ].
44, "hit the toonndlcss air"; Temp. iii. 3. 61-4, "the elements.
Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well Wound the loud
winds, or with bemocked-at stabs Kill the atill-clo.sing waters."

102 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

101. more and more, reinforcements to both parties: on part
and part, on one side and the other.

102. parted either part, separated the two parties.

104. the worshipp'd sun, not of course literally as with the
Persians, but figuratively, joyously welcomed ; and perhaps with
an allusion to worshipping the rising sun, i.e. courting those on
the high road to power.

106. Peer'd forth, peeped out from ; peer, from Low G. jnren,
to look closely, distinct from ;*eer, a shortened form of appear, as
in W. T. iv. 3. 1, "When daffodils begin to jieer " ; for forth, as a
preposition, cp. A. G. iv. 10. 7, " They have ]int forth the haven" :
golden . . . east, of course golden only when the sun is rising.

107. drave, Shakespeare frequently uses this form as well as
drove.

108. sycamore, "properly 'sycomore,' Gk. o-uKOfiopos, i.e. fig-
mulberry tree. ... The trees so called in Europe and America are
different from the Oriental sycamore "... (Skeat, Ety. Diet.).

109. That westward . . . side, that grows on the west side of the
city.

111. I made, I directed my steps : ware of me, aware of my
approach ; literally on guard against, from A.S. ivctr, cautious.

113. affections, inclinations.

114. "Which then... found, which (sc. Benvolio's inclinations)
then most desired a place where fewest people would be found.
The first quarto gives "That most are busied, when they're
most alone," and this reading, first introduced by Pope, has been
adopted in the Old Variorum Shakespeare, and by Knight, Dyce,
Staunton, and Clarke ; for most might Allen conjectures viore
might, remarking, " Shakespear was not the man (in Romeo and
Juliet, at least) to let slip the chance of running through the
Degrees of Comparison, many, more, most": Being ... self, find-
ing my own wearisome company more than enough for myself.

115. Pursued ... Ms, followed my own inclination to solitude
without owing any prompting to his inclination ; for his Thirlby
conjectured him, which was adopted by Theobald, Hanmer, War-
burton, and Johnson.

116. who gladly ... me, who was only too anxious to escape me.

119. his deep sighs, the breath of the deep sighs he drew.
Delius compares T. A. iii. 1. 212, "Or with our sighs we'll
breathe the M^elkin dim."

120. all so soon, as soon as ever.

121. should, was bound to.

123. heavy, in mind ; for sake of the antithesis with light.

SCENE I.] NOTES. 103

124. pens himself, shuts himself up ; to j)en is connected with
pin, and comes ultimately from the Lat. penna, a feather.

127. portentous, ominous.

1,31. Have you ... means, have you made any great effort to
discover it, have you pressed him with persistent questioning or
sought to get to the bottom of the matter through his associates?

133. his own ... counsellor, resolutely keeping his own secret,
confiding in no one.

136. So far ... discovery, as much beyond tlie possibility of
being sounded, of having the depth of his thoughts measured,
and of being got to reveal his secret : to sound is to measure
depth with a plummet ; the etymology of the word is doubtful.

137. envious, malignant : worm, the canker worm ; see note
on 1. 81, above, and cp. T. N. ii. 4. 113-5, "She never told her
love, But let concealment like a worm i' the bud Feed on her
damask cheek."

142, 3. so please ... denied, if you will be good enough to with-
draw out of sight, I will ascertain the cause of his dejection, or
at all events will not allow myself to be easily put off in my
endeavour to do so. In the sense of 'provided that,' 'on these
terms,' so is sometimes preceded by he it (i.e. if it be), as in
M. N. D. i. 1. 39, " Be it so she will not," sometimes is used
elliptically, as here, and in both cases sometimes with, and some-
tunes without, that following it ; see Abb. § 1.33 ; for know, in
the sense of 'ascertain,' 'make oneself acquainted with,' cp.
below, v. 3. 198, " Search, seek, and hioiv how this foul murder
comes " ; grievance is more commonly used by Shakespeare for
'grief,' 'sori'ow,' 'suffering,' as here, though sometimes in the
more modern sense of 'cause of complaint,' as below, iii. 1. 55,
"reason coldly of your grievances"; for denied, = refused an
answer, or an entreaty, cp. B. II. v. 3. 103, "He prays but
faintly and would be denied. "

144. happy, fortunate, successful in your attempt.

145. To hear true shrift, as to obtain from him a triiP confp..s-..
sion of his sorrow ; fortlie omission of as after so, see Abb. § 281 ;
shrift, more usually in Shakespeare for confession made to a
priest, and the absolution consequent uj^on it, but sometimes, as
here, for confession only ; while in 0th. iii. 3. 24, it means_ a
penitential exercise or rigorous discipline. " The verb to shrive
is M. E. schrirrn, shriven ... — A.S. scrifan, to shrive, to impose a
penance or compensation, to judge. .. But although it thiis
appears as a strong verb, it does not appear to be a true Teutonic
word. It was rather borrowed (at a very early period) from
Lat. scribere, to write, to draw up a law. ... The particular sense
is due to the legal use of the word, signifying (1) to draw up a
law, (2) to impose a legal obligation or penalty, (3) to impose or

104 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

prescribe a penance. . . . The substantive shrift is M. E. shrift . . . A. S.
serif t, confession, ... and just as tlie A. S. verb scri/an is due to
Lat. scribere, so A.S. scri/t is due to Lat. p.p. scriptiis" ... (Skeat,
Ety. Diet.)

146.. morrow, morning; 'good morrow,' or 'good day,' was
the salutation used until noon, after which time it became ' good
e'en' (evening) : so young, so early. Steevens compares Acolastns,
a comedy, 1540, "It is yet young nyghte, or there is moche of the
nyghte to come."

147. new, newly, just now.

149. lengthens, causes to seem tedious.

154. where, with whom ; where is often used by Shakespeare
in a wide sense = in which, in which case, on which occasion, etc.
Cp. W. T. V. 1. 21.?, "you have broken from his liking Where
you were tied in duty," almost = towards whom ; N. V. i. 2. 121,
" They have a king and officers of sorts, Where some like
magistrates correct at home," almost = in whose case, among
whom.

155. in his view, in appearance, to look at ; cp. M. V. iii. 2.
132, "You that choose not by the vieiu"; view, sight: still,
ever.

156-8. Should ..will! apparently means ' sliottld__h£_aliIe to
find the means of wounding tjiose he chooses to wound."
Steevens explains, "Romeo lameivEs that love, though blind,
should discover pathways to his will, and yet cannot avail him-
self of them ; should perceive the road which he is forl)idden to
take " ; Singer, " That is, should blindly and recklessly think
he can surmount all obstacles to his will." But the personifica-
tion of love seems to show that it is the objective power of love
over others, not his own subjective inability, that Romeo laments ;
and to " see pathways to his will " is equivalent to ' to see the
way to carry out his will,' ' be able to carry out his will.'

159. What fray was here ? What disturbance, conflict, has
been raging here ? said as he notices the marks of the struggle
and the blood of the combatants still fresh on the ground.

161. Here's much hate! this conflict has much to do with
hatred, i.e. so far as the rival families are concerned, but has
more to do with love, i.e. so far as he is concerned (the object of
his love, Rosaline, belonging to tlie Capulet family) ; the two
things, love and hatred, being in this case so intimately blended,
Romeo says he may well speak of brawling love and loving
hatred.

162-7. Why, then, ... it is ! Hudson well remarks, " Such an
affected way of speaking not unaptly shows the .state of Romeo's
mind ; his love is rather self-generated than iuspiied by any

SCENE I.] NOTES. 105

object. As compared with his style of speech after meeting with
Juliet, it seems to mark the difiference between being loiK-sick
and beinr/ hi love." At the same time it sliould be remembered
that such description of love by means of antitheses was connnon
among the sonneteers and the Proven9al and Italian poets.
Farmer quotes several sucli laboured contrarieties : create, for
the omission of -ed in the past participles of verbs ending in -te,
-t, and -d, see Abb. § 342 : well-seeming, apparently well pro-
portioned, symmetrical : that is not what it is, that is a contra-
diction to itself.

168. that feel ... this, who feel no satisfaction in such love.

169. coz, an abbreviation of ' cousin.'

170. Good heart, dear friend: At thy... oppression, at the
burden your warm heart has to bear.

171. Why, such ... transgression, why, such are the cruelties
of whicli lo^'e is commonly guilty. To complete tlie metre^oTTTie
line. Collier inserted BencoUo after such ; Keiglitley conjectured
gentle cousin ; Orger, stick a love is, etc.

173-4. Which thou ... thine, M-hich griefs you will increase and
multiply by causing my breast to be burdened with griefs of
yours.

175. too much, "used substantively as a compound word"
(Delius).

177. Being purged ... eyes, M'hich when it is purified of its
smoky character, i.e. of the doubts and anxieties with which it
is clouded, blazes up as a bright fire in tlie eyes of lovers ; m-g\l,
puff d, 7-ag'd, have been suggested for purged, but there seems no
need of alteration.

178. Being vex'd, . . tears, which if it is thwarted, cliafed by ^
restraint, becomes a sea, etc. The idea is that of a sea swollen
by torrents, and raging against its confining shores ; cp. J. C. i.
2. 101, "The troubled Tiber chafing with her shoi'es."

179. What is it else ? do you ask to what else it may be
likened ?

180. A choking ... sweet, at one time a bitter so ppworfnl as
almost to choke tlie swallow, at anotlier, something as delicious
as fruits used in preserving, As Shakespeare, ./. C. i. 1.4, uses
" a labouring day " for " a day on which men lalwur," and A. C.
iii. 13. 77, " his all-obeying breath" for "breath which all obey,"
so a preserving sweet seems to mean 'a sweet of the kind used for
preserving. ' Ulrici, who takes preserving as = ' preserved, '
explains, " Love may be compared to a preserved SM'eet because,
although against our will, it is kept and cherished " ; which
appears to me a very forced meaning.

181. Soft! gently; do not be in such a hurry: along, se.

106 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

with you; the omission of 'with nie, you,' etc., is frequent in
Shakespeare.

182. An if. On the insertion of ' if ' after ' and ' (an), when the
subjunctive, falling into disuse, was felt to be too weak unaided
to express the hypothesis, see Abb. § 103.

183. lost. Daniel adopts left, a conjecture by Allen, who
says, "It is exactly in Romeo's manner, in this dialogue, that he
should take up the very word of Benvolio in his answer." He
adds that tlie converse misprint of left for lost occurs in Gor.
i. 4. 55, and Daniel refers to Haml. iii. 1. 99, where the quartos
read lost, the folios left.

184. some other where, elsewhere ; in another place.

185. in sadness, in all sober truth, in earnest ; a sense frequent
in Shakespeare, e.g. M. W. iii. 5. 125, T. >S. v. 2. 64. So sadly
below, i. 1. 187, M. A. ii. 3. 229, and sad constantly: for the
uninfected who, see Abb. § 274.

186. what ...tell thee? Romeo pretends to misunderstand
Benvolio's use of sadness.

188. will, testament.

189. word, sc, "sadness": ill-urged, which you do wrong to
make use of so persistently.

190. In sadness, ... woman. Romeo here combines the two
senses, seriousness and sorrow.

192. mark-man, aimer ; the earlier form of marksman.

193. A right fair mark, a mark easily distinguished.

194. 5. Well, ... arrow, well, in that hit of yours, i.e. in as-
suming that she must easily be hit, your aim is beside tlie mark :
for it is impossible for Cupid's arrow to hit her, she refuses to
allow Cupid's arrow to reach her bosom : Dian's wit, Diana's
wisdom, prudence, in repelling all love attacks.

196. And, in strong ... arm'd, and secure in the proof-armour
of chastity ; ' armour of proof ' or ' proof-armour ' is armour
which has been tested in the manufactory by a severe strain
being put upon it ; so we speak of swords, guns, cannon, being
' proved ' before they are issued for use. Steevens sees in these
lines an oblique compliment to' Queen Elizabeth, who would be
gi-atified by praise of her chastity and beauty.

197. unharm'd. This, the reading of the first quarto, seems
quite satisfactory ; but several editors approve of Collier's con-
jecture encharmed, and Grant White is inclined to read " 'Gaiii,st
ioves . .. eiicharmed," following, as regards the preposition, the
text of the first quarto.

198. She will not... terms, she will not suff'er herself to be
besieged by propositions of love. Probably in terms there is

SCENE T.] NOTES. 107

an allusion to the conditions oiTered by besiegers to the besieged,
i.e. she will not make peace with her lovers on tlie terms of love
which they propose.

199. Nor bide ... eyes, nor wait the shock of dangerous love-
looks. Cp. M. A. i. 1. 327, " I will ... take her hearing prisoner
with the force And strong encounter of my amorous tale."

200. saint-seducing, sufficiently powerful to overcome the
scruples of tlie most saintly persons.

202. That, when . . . store, that with her death perishes that
with which she is so richly endowed, viz. beauty. Tlieobald,
however, plausibly conjectured "with her dies beauty's store,"
which several editors have accepted, and which tallies closely
witli the purport of tlie earlier Sonnets, probably written about
tlie same time with Romeo and Juliet.

204. in that sparing ... waste, in being thus sparing of herself,
in not allowing her beauty to be propagated by succession, she
is guilty of great_3Kiiste. This thought, again, is closely paral-
lelled by the first Sonnet, where the theme is precisely the same ;
" Thou tliat art now the world's fresh ornament And only lierald
to tlie gaudy spring. Within tliine own bud buriest thy content.
And, tender churl, mak'st loaste in niggmxlinr/."

205,6. For beauty ... posterity, for beauty, by her severity
made to pine away, prevents all succession of like beauty ;
beauty perishes without an heir. Cp. V. A. 751-60.

207, 8. she is too fair . . . despair, fair and wise as she is, her
beauty being set off by her wisdgm, her personni clm.rms enhanced
by liPT- iiipiitii.1 gi-a,ceSj it is wrong that she- should inlieiit bliss
by driving me to despair. I take wisely too fair to be notliing
more than an expansion of too wise, too fair. Delius (cqmd
Furness) explains, "The excess of her beauty does not accord
with the excess of her wisdom ; she ouglit not to try to win
heavenly bliss while burdening herself with sin by plunging
Romeo into despair." Malone, "There is in her too much
sanctimonious wisdom united with beauty, whicli induces her
to continue chaste with the hopes of attaining heavenly bliss."

209, 10. in that vow ... now, by that vow (tliat she will die
unmarried) which I live to tell you, my life is made a living
death.

211. ruled, guided, advised.

21.3. By giving ... eyes, by allowing your eyes to dwell on the
beauty of others, not restricting yourself to the contemplation of
her charms only.

214, 5. 'Tis the way ... more, the only result of examining the
beauty of otliers would be to make me more curious in noting
that beauty of hers which is so exquisite ; cp. T. G. iii. 2. 60,

108 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

"she '11. bereave you o' the deeds too, if she call your activity in
question" i.e. if she examines it by trying, as Schmidt explains.
Here, however, exquisite and question, both being of the same
origin, have suggested each otlier.

216, 7. These happy masks ... fair? The gist of these lines is
as follows ; when we behold the masks Avorn l)y ladies, the fact
of their being black only serves to make us think of the fair com-
plexions they hide ; and so, if I look at other beauties, I shall
only be led to think of Rosaline : men may lose their eyesight,
but that does not prevent their remembering with a yearning
regret that they once had that precious possession ; and so, if I
examine other features, my doing so will only serve to call up the
painful remembrance that I have before looked on other features
more beautiful (sc. those of Rosaline) : if you show me some one
exquisitely lovely, the only result will be to put me in mind of
one whose loveliness far surpassed hers : These, used generically,
these masks that we are so familiar with : fair, used in a double
sense (1) beautiful, (2) fair as opposed to dark.

218. strucken. Shakespeare uses struck, struclcen, stroken,
stricken, and perhaps other forms of the participle.

220. passing, surpassingly ; an adverbial use very frequent in
Shakespeare, in the same sense as pass'd just below.

221. what doth .. serve, what purpose does her beauty serve ;
i.e. it serves no other purpose : note, memorandum, writing from
which something may be gathered.

224. I '11 pay ... debt, I will render you that instruction, teach
you to forget, or else die owning myself your delator. For
doctrine, cp. ^. C. v. 2. 31, "I hourly learn a doctrine of obedi-
ence."

Scene II.

1. bound, sc. to keep the peace.

2. In penalty alike, under the same penalty for disobedience.

3. Of honourable . . both, both of you are esteemed as honour-
able men.

4. at odds, at enmity.

7. But saying . . . before, I have nothing to say beyond saying,
etc.

8. is yet . . . world, as yet knows nothing of the world, is hardly
out of the nursery.

10. Let two., pride, let the leaves and flowers of one more
sunnner fade.

l.S. marred, sc. by their youth and beauty quickly fading.
For the jingle of marr'd and made, very frequent in Shakespeare,

SCENE II.] NOTES. 109

cp. e.q. M. N. D. i. 2. 39, "And make and mar The foolish
Fates.'"

14. The earth... she, all my children, on whom I pinned my
hopes, have died except her.

15. She is... earth. If the reading is genuine, this probably
means ' she is the heiress of my property on whom my hopes are
centered' ; some take earth to mean body, as in Sonnet cxvi. 1,
"Poor soul, the centre of my sinful earth," while others explain
"she is the hopeful mistress of my world, my life." Steevens
quotes tlie French phrase Fille de terre, i.e. heiress, in support of
the first given meaning, but the expression is not exactly
analogous. The line is not found in the first quarto ; and, as it
has no line to rhyme with it, whereas the rest of the speech is
complete in this respect, there is probably some corruption.

17. My will ... part, my consent depends upon hers ; my will is
but an adjunct to her consent, if you obtain the latter, the former
follows as a part and parcel of it.

18, 9. An she agree ... voice, if she assents, my consent and
approval go with tiiat choice which she is free to make. Walker
and Dyce hyphen fair according, and in 1. 20 old accustomed.

22, 3. and you . . . more, and your presence among the full
assemblage, welcome as that presence will be, adds to the wealth
of company that will grace my halls.

24. my poor house. Said with an assumption of humility.

25. that make . . . light, whose beauty is sufficient to light up
the darkness of night.

26. comfort, pleasure, contentment of mind : for young men,
Daniel follows the first quarto in reading younrpnen, taking it to
= yeomen, a word which Johnson had conjectured here.

27. 8. When . . . treads, Malone compares Sonn. xeviii. 2, 3,
" When proud-pied April dress'd in all his trim Hatli put a .spirit
of youth in everything " : limping winter, winter that is so long
in passing away.

.30. Inherit, possess, enjoy ; cp. Cor. ii. 1. 215, "I have lived
To see inherited my very wishes" ; Cymh._ iii. 2. 63, "Tell me
how Wales was made so happy as To inherit such a haven."

,32, 3. Which on more view... none. The first quarto gives
"Such amongst view," etc. ; the reading in the text is that of the
fourth and fifth quartos, which vary from the second and third
only in having on for one. With this reading, the meaning
seems to be, h^er^ who when you have carefully pyed a l.n.rge
number of those present, my d^y^^^M.cr .imnn^the rest, may speoji
to you to hold the first place, thouL^h being but one she does not
count for anything in reckoningjjtone, as is generally admitted,
cleariv refers to the old proverb that one is no number, a

no ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i. —

proverb to which Shakespeare refers, Sonn. cxxxvi. 8, "Among
a number one is reckoned none." This explanation in its more
important point is essentially that given by Singer, though the
latter words he explains "though she may be reckoned nothing,
or held in no estimation." On which used intercl^angeably with
who, see Abb. § 265. The majority of editors take mine as the
subject to May stand ; but to this there seems the objection that
Capulet is trying to persuade Paris that he may easily find some
one as well fitted for a bride as his own daughter, and therefore
would not be likely to suggest that slie might hold the first place.
But for this objection, I should be inclined to follow (with
Steevens and Staunton) the reading of the first quarto, "Such,
amongst view of many, mine, being one," etc., though while we
say "amongst many," it is perhaps doubtful Mhether we could
say "amongst view of many." The conjectures are many:
"Within your," Johnson; "On which more," Capell ;
"Amongst such," Ulrici ; "Such as on," Keightley ; "Whilst
on," Mason, followed Dyce ; " Such amongst few," Badham :
while the punctuation of" tlie former of the two lines is equally
various. Possibly we should read ' Such amongst ricw'd,' i.e.
seen among such, my daughter, being one of many, may, etc.

34. trudge, properly meaning to walk along with a heavj^ step,
is here and elsewhere in Shakespeare used to express a busy
activity.

37. My liouse ... stay, I am waiting to give them hearty
welcome to my house.

38-41. It is written ... nets, the servant is of course turning the
sayings topsy-turvy : meddle with, busy himself witli : yard,
yard-measure : last, wooden mould of the foot on which shoes
are shaped and sewn.

43. I must to. On the omission of the verb of motion, see
Abb. § 405.

44. In good time, in good luck, Fr. a la bonne heure ; said as
he sees Benvolio and Romeo approaching, as from them he will
be able to find out the directions given to him.

45. one fire . . . burning. A reference to a fire in a grate being
extinguished by the more powerful fire of the sun ; cp. Cor. iv. 7.
54, " One fire drives out one fire ; one nail, one nail " ; T. G. ii. 4.
192, 3, " Even as one heat another heat expels. Or as one nail by
strength drives out another " ; and Brooke's Romem ami Jnliet,
1. 207, " as out of a planke a nayle a nayle doth drive."

46. another's anguish, the anguish caused by another pain ;
the subjective genitive.

47. holp, Shakespeare uses both holp and helped, the former
more frequently : backward, in the reverse direction.

I

k

SCENE II.] NOTES. Ill

51. Your plantain-leaf, the plantain-leaf which you know so
well ; cp. Haml. iv. 3. 22, 4, " Your worm is your only emperor
for diet ... your fat-king and your lean-beggar is but variable ser-
vice"; A. C. ii. 7. 29-31, "Fonr serpent of Egj'pt is bred now of
your mud by the operation of your sun : so is yoiir crocodile " ;
and see Abb. § 220 : the plantain-leaf, the leaf of this herb, or
rather Aveed, was of old supposed to be efficacious in case of fresh
wounds and various other ailments ; cp. L. L. L. iii. 1. 74, where
Costard calls for it for his broken shin.

52. your broken shin, your shin the skin of which has been
broken ; your, as in the line above. As a plantain-leaf was used
to staunch blood and not for a fracture of a bone, Ulrici su])poses
a sarcasm here, ' Thy remedy is as excellent for my complaint as
a plantain leaf is for a broken shin. ' • But a ' broken head ' or a
'broken shin ' meant a head or a shin of which the skin had been
abraded, not in which the bone had been fractured ; so in i. 3. 39,
"hrolv her brow" means 'knocked the skin off her forehead.'
Romeo is of course f-eazing "Reiiyolio by his inconsequent remarks,
but no such deep meaning is intended asJTInVi gnsppoig —

54. bound .. is, shackled in fetters heavier tlian tliose put upon
a madman ; in former daj's the restraints put upon lunatics were
cruelly severe, they being shut up in dark rooms, heavily fettered
and frequently whipped ; cp. 7'. A^. iii. 4. 148, 9, " Come, we'll
have him in a dark room and hound,'" said of Malvolio whom they
pretend to be mad. Romeo's fetters are of course those of love.

56. God-den, a contraction of ' God give you good even,' found
in many similar forms, such as that given in reply by the Servant.

58. mine own ... misery, my own miserable fortune.

59. Perhaps .. book, "for that jDurpose, the Servant means, it
is not necessary for a man to have learnt to read " (Delius).

62. Ye say ... merry ! thanks for your honest answ^er and fare-
well ! rest you merry, or " God rest you merry," as in A. Y. L.
V. 1. 65, was a common form of faiewell among the lower orders,
and equivalent to 'good luck to you.' The Servant, getting
nothing but ' ' riddling shrift " from Romeo, is about to proceed
on his way.

64. County. Another form of 'Count,' oftentimes used by
Shakespeare ; originally meaning a companion, i.e. of some great
leader, the modern ' county ' = shire, being the portion of territory
of which the Count had the government. Capell pointed out that
this list of guests becomes metrical if Anselme is changed to
Anftehno and an epithet given to Livia. Following this sug-
gestion, except that he inserts and before Livia, Dyce prints the
passage as metre. Very possibly, as Delius suggests, Romeo in
reading it aloud inserts some of the epithets which help to make
it metrical.

1 1 2 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

70. should they come ? are they expected to come : Up, sc. to
the house. Poi?.sibly with an allusion to the common expression
" Marry, come up " as used by the Nurse, ii. 5. 63, below.

72. Whither? All the old copies give " Whither to supper?"
which some editors retain, perhaps rightly. The alteration was
suggested by ^Varburton and first accepted by Theobald.

76. I should . . . hefore, I should have done better before putting
these questions to you, to have asked you who your master is.

78. great rich, very rich ; great, used adverbially as in
ii. H. VI. iii. 1. 379, " as 'tis (jreat like he will."

79. crush a cup of wine, as we now say ' crack a bottle of wine. '
Steevens quotes several instances of the expression from old
writers.

79, 80. Rest you nierry ! See above, 1. 62.

81. this same ancient feast, this time-honoured festival of
which he speaks and which we all know so well. The expression
"this same" or "that same" is frequently used with a con-
temptuous emphasis, like the modern vulgarity "this here," and
even when no contempt is intended there is generally a sort of
familiarity implied.

84. unattainted eye, unbiased, impartial, eye ; eye not preju-
diced by your admiration for Rosaline.

85. show, point out to you.

86. And I . . . crow, and I will convince you that she whom you
think so lovely is but a poor creature after all.

87. 8. When the devout ... fires, when mv eye, thatnow wor-
ships with such devout belief in her beatity, perjijxes- itself 4>y —
such heresy as you suggest, then let tears_tanx^tQlfa€s. The old
copies give ' fire,' which was alterl^n^y Pope to fires for the sake
of tlie rhyme with liars ; Grant White remarks, " The mare
difference of a final s seems not to have been regarded in rhyme
in Shakespeare's day, and the reading ' fires ' tends to impoverish

a line not over-rich. "

89, 90. And these, ... liars ! and may these eyes, which, though
often drowned in tears, refused to die, be burnt as liars, trans-
parent heretics as they will tlien proA'e themsehes to be ! In
transparent there is a pun upon ' evident,' in tlie figurative
sense, and ' clear,' in the literal sense.

92. her match, her equal, much less her superior.

93. you saw her fair, in your eyes she seemed fair.

94. Herself poised . . . eye, each of your eyes being filled with her
image, whereas, in order that you should judge impartially, her
image in your one eye sliould have been balanced by the image of
some other fair one in your other eye ; to ' poise,' or ' peize ' as

SCENE 11.] NOTES. 113

Shakespeare sometimes •mrites it, is to weigh, balance, from Old
F. peiser, to weigh.

95. scales, pair of scales, used as a singular ; conversely, in
AT. r. iv. 1. 255, balance is used as a plural, " .4re these balance
here to weigh The flesh ? "

96. Your lady's love. As it is neither the love which he bore to
the lady, nor the love which the lady bore to him, we should
probably read, with Theobold, lady-love Though we do not find
the word elsewhere in Shakespeare, Dyce has shown that it was
already in use.

97. shilling, sc. in all the splendour of loveliness.

98. And she . . . best, and she who now seems to you fairest in
all the world will scarcely seem fair at all ; scant, as an adverb,
occurs here only in Shakespeare.

99. along, see note on i. 1.181 ; no such . . . shown, not in the ex-
pectation, or for the purpose, of being shown such a sight.

100. splendour of mine own, the splendid beauty of her whom
I love.

Scene III.

2. What, an exclamation of impatience at not finding her ; so
why frequently in the same way : lady-bird, a term of endear-
ment ; tlie lady -bird is really a small scarlet insect which flits
about from leaf to leaf.

3. God forbid ! sc. that anything should have happened to her.

4. How now ! what's the matter, that you call out in this way
for me !

6. This is the matter, this is what I want to speak to you
about : give leave awhile, leave us alone for a time ; cp. K. J. i.
1. 2.30, "James Gurney, M'ilt thou give us leave aichile?" and
i. H. IV. iii. 2. 1, "Lords, give us leave; the Prince of Wales
and I Must have some private conference."

8. I have remember'd me, on second thoughts, there is no need
for you to leave us ; me, used reflexively ; cp. T. N. v. 1 . 286,
" alas, noAV / reinember me," i.e. now that I come to think of the
matter again : thou's, a colloquialism for ' thou shalt,' as in Lear,
iv. 6, 246, " ise try " is a provincialism for ' / shall try ' : counsel,
consultation, deliberation.

9. of a pretty age, well grown, of a marriageable age.

10. Faith, in faith, assuredly : unto an hour, exactly,

11. lay, stake as a wager.

12. to my teen, to my sorrow, sorry as I am to say it ; cp.
Temp. i. 2. 64, " To think of the teen that I have turned you to."
Here of course for the sake of the jingle with " fourteen."

H

114 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

14. Lammas-tide," a name for the first of August. .. The literal
sense is ' loaf- mass,' because a loaf was offered on this day as an
offering of first fruits [sc. of the harvest] ...—A.. S. hid/, a loaf,
and mcesse, a mass" (Skeat, Ety. Diet.): -tide, for time, as Nares
remarks, adding, " Tide was also scrupulously used by the
Puritans, in composition, instead of the popish word mass, of
which they had a nervous abhorrence. Thus, for Christmas,
Hallowmass, Lammas, they said Christ-tide, Hallow-^ide, Lamb-
tide," Lammas being in those days popularly supposed to be
derived from lamb and tide.

15. Even or odd, ... year, whether the number of days between
now and Lammastide be even or odd, on that day and no other.

16. Come . . . night, an instance, as Wright remarks, note on
M. N. D. i. 2. 6, 7, of an uneducated person's anxiety to be
scrupulously exact.

17. Susan, her own daughter.

18. of an age, of one and the same age.

19. She was too good for me, I did not deserve so good a child,
and therefore she was taken from me ; a pathetic expression still
to be heard among the poorer classes.

22. the earthquake. It has been supposed by some that Shake-
speare is here alluding to tlie earthquake that took place in
England in 1580, and that therefore the play was written in
1591, by others that he alludes to the far more serious earth-
quake in Italy in 1570.

23. wean'd, made to give up being suckled. The word is from
the A.S. wenian, to accustom, and, as .Skeat points out, the child
who is being accustomed to bread, etc., is at the same time dis-
accustomed to, or weaned from, the breast. Hence our present
use of the word in the sense of ' disaccustom to.'

25. laid ... dug, sc. in order to make the dug distasteful to the
child, -wormwood being a plant with a bitter juice. Skeat has
shown that the word has really nothing to do with either worm
or icood, but is from the A.S. wermdd = mind preserver, from A.S.
werian, to protect, and A.S. mod, mind, thus pointing back "to
some primitive belief as to the curative property of the plant in
mental afflictions."

26. Sitting ... wall, again wishing to display her extreme
accuracy.

28. Nay, ...brain, for, believe me, I remember the circum-
stances most minutely ; the use of Nay here is elliptical, and
equivalent to 'nay, do not wonder, for,' 'nay, you need not
doubt my memory, for ' ; bear a brain, much the same as the
more modern 'have a good head,' an expression of which the
commentators quote many instances from old writers.

SCENE III.] NOTES. 115

31. To see ... dug ! what a pretty sight it was to see it get
augry and quarrel with the dug ! tetchy, fretful, peevish ; the
sense, says Skeat, is 'full of fetches or teches, i.e. bad habits,
freaks, whims, vices ' ; of course nothing to do with touchy, which
is often used in the sense of peevish.

32. Shake ... dove-house. Wise {Shakespeare: His Birthplace
and its Neighbourhood, p. 112), remarks, "a peculiar use of the
verb ' quoth ' is noticeable among the lower orders in Warwick-
shire. It is universally applied to inanimate things : for instance,
though the ploughshare could not speak, still the verb ' quoth '
would not be inapplicable to it. 'Jerk, quoth the ploughshare,'
that is, the ploughshare went — to use a vulgarism — jerk. So,
precisely in this sense in Borneo and Jidiet the old Nurse says,
'Shake, quoth the dove-house,' that is,' the dove-house went or
began shaking." Cp. Heywood, The Fair Maid of the West, iv.
1, "I was sent to the top-mast to watch, and there I fell fast
asleep. 'Bounce,' quoth the guns, down tumbles Clem [the
speaker]." Here the shaking, on thf_rhi1d's di'^ti^'it" ^»nt,b tlip
dug, is ominous of the Nurse's duty b^ing at ■A^^ pnd — -

32, 3. 'twas no need . . . trudge, there was no need to bid me
pack off about my business, for the child's quarrelling with the
dug was enough to show that my duties were over. .

35. for then . . . alone, i. e. for then she was between two and
three years old ; the first quarto gives high-lone, and Dyce has
shown that the phrase a high lone, for quite alone, was in use by
old writers.

35, 6. nay . . about, nay, not only could stand alone, but, I
swear, could have run about everywhere though her feet were
not as steady as they might be ; the rood, the cross (of Christ),
sometimes used for the crucifix, i.e. the cross with a figure of
Christ on it.

37. broke her brow, broke the skin of her brow by a fall as
she was running about on her not too steady feet. See note
on i. 2. 52.

.39. Peace, ...grace, very good, I have done. May God set
the mark of his favour upon you, show that He loves you ! to,
for, as an object of.

41, 2. An I might ... wish, if I might only live to see you
married, my fondest wish would be gratified ; once belongs to
live not to married.

45. How stands . . . married ? how arc you disposed as regards
marriage? is your inclination for or against marriage? Cp. A.
Y. L. i. 1. 131, "Orlando hath a disposition to come in disguised
against me to try a fall. "

48. I would say... teat, i.e. but if I were to pay you that
compliment, I should also be complimenting myself.

116 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

50. ladies of esteem, honourable ladies, ladies of rank and
character.

51. by my count, if my memory is right.

52. .3. I was . . . maid. " In the old poem Juliet's age is set down
at sixteen [1. 1864, "Scarce saw she yet full sixteen yeres "] ;
in Paynter's novel at eighteen [" sith as yet shee is not attayned
to the age of xviii. yeares"]. As Shakespeare makes his heroine
only fourteen. Lady Capulet would be eight and twenty ; while
her husband, having done masking some thirty years, must
be at least three score. Knight veils the disparity, and per-
haps improves the passage [by reading a for your], but we
believe witiiout authority " (Staunton).

54. for his love, in marriage ; as his bride.

56. As all the wcrld — the Nurse's enthusiasm is too great for
expression: a man of wax, "well made, as if he had been
modelled in wax " (Weston) ; an explanation which Dyce confirms
by a quotation from Fair Em, a play sometimes attributed to
Shakespeare, i. 3. 50-2, Simpson's ed., " A body, were it framed
of wax By all the cunning Artists of the world. It could not
better be proportioned."

63. every married lineament, all his features, each of which
is in such complete harmony with the rest ; cp. ii. If. IV. v. 1.
77, "their spirits are so married in conjunction with the par-
ticipation of society " ; T. C. i. 3. 100, " Tiie unity and married
calm of states."

64. And see ... content, and mark "how one sets off another's
beauty, to satisfy the eye " (Schmidt).

65. 6. And what ... eyes, and whatever is not clearly expressed
in the lines of that face, in those lineaments, find illusti'ated by
the light of his eyes. In old books the text was illustrated by
comments in the margin, to which the reader was r.ften directed
by an index finger (8®°). For other instances in Shakespeare of
a face compared to a book, cp. K. J. ii. 1. 485, Lucr. 615,
M. N. D. ii. 2. 122 ; for the form margent, cp. Haml. v. 2. 162,
Lucr. 102, L.L.L. ii. 1. 246, in the two latter the figure being
the same as that in the text.

67, 8. This precious book .. cover, to him, though full of excel-
lence, yet incomplete, the bonds of marriage will give that grace
of completeness which the binding gives to the book ; cp. K. J.
ii. 1. 437, 8, " He is the half part of a blessed man Left to be
finished by such as .she. " Mason points out that in cover there
is a quibble on the law phrase for a married woman, styled feme
covert in law-French.

69, 70. The fish , . . hide, as the beauty of the element in which
it lives sets off the beauty of the fish, so man is graced by his

SCENE III.] NOTES. 117

nninn wHh wnmaii ; pride is taken ill covering with a beautiful
outside that which is beautiful within, and his innate virtues
Avill find their complement in your outward beauty. I cannot
believe with Farmer that there is any allusion to the fish-skin
covers in which books were sometimes bound, or with Clarke that
Lady Capulet means to say " the fish is not yet caught which is
to supply this ' cover ' or ' coverture. ' The bride who is to be
bound in marriage with Paris has not yet been won."

71, 2. That book ... story, that book which locks in a golden
story in golden clasps is by many prized as much for those clasps
as for its precious contents ; and your outward beauty will be as
much regarded as his inward excellence.

73, 4. So shall . . . less, so shall you l)e a sharer in all that
adorns him, and by taking him in marriage shall in no M'ay lessen
your own estimation. These two lines summarize the whole pass-
age from "This precious book" to "golden story," and are
entirely opposed to the interpretations of 11. 69, 70, given by
Farmer and Clarke.

75. like of, approve of, accept ; for this partitive sense, cp.
Tem}j. iii. 1. 57, "a shape to like of" ; M. A. v. 4. 59, " if you
like of me."

76. I '11 look . . . move, I will look with the object of liking, if so
be that looking is likely to cause liking. Quibbles abound so
greatly in this scene that I '11 look to may have the double mean-
ing of ' I will expect to. '

77. endart mine eye, set darts in ; see Abb. § 440, on the force
of en- as a prefix.

78. Than your consent . . . fly, than you would approve of my
doing.

80. asked for, inquired about : cursed, "because she is not at
hand to help" (Delius).

81. in extremity, on the tip-toe of bustle : wait, attend upon
the guests : straight, straightway ; at once.

83. stays, is \\-aiting for your coming.

Scene IV.

Stace Direction. Maskers, men wearing masks and prepared
to take part in a masquerade, i.e. an assembly of maskers or
buffoons, not the same as masque.

1. this speech, which they had prepared ; see note on 1. 3.

2. Or shall we on, or shall we go forward, on to the house.

3. The date ... prolixity. "In Henry VIII., when the king
introduces himself to the entertainment given by Wolsey, he

118 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

appears, like Romeo and his companions, in a 7nask, and sends a
messenger before him to make an apology for his intrusion.
This was a custom observ^ed by those who came uninvited, with
a desire to conceal themselves for the sake of intrigue, or to
enjoy the greater freedom of convei'sation. Their entry on these
occasions was always prefaced by some speech in praise of the
beauty of the ladies or the generosity of the entertainer ; and to
the jwolixity of such introductions allusion is here made. So, in
Histriomastix, 1610, a man wonders that the maskers enter with-
out any compliment : ' What come they in so blunt, ivithout
device ?\.. Of the same kind of masquerading, see a specimen in
Timon [i. 2. 121, et seqq.], where Cupid precedes a troop of ladies
with a speech " (Steevens).

4. hoodwinked •with a scarf, with his eyes blinded with a
scarf ; to ' hoodwink ' is to blind the eyes by covering the head
with a hood, as hawks M'ere blinded, until the moment arrived
for flying them at their prey, by a hood drawn over their eyes ;
the word is used figuratively in Macb. iv. 3. 72, ' ' the time you
may so hoodwink " ; and Cymb. v. 2. 16, Temp. iv. 1. 206. The
object here is of course to symbolize Cupid's blindness.

5. Bearing ... lath. " The Tartarian bows, as well as most of
those used by the Asiatic nations, resembled in their form the old
Roman or Cupid's bow, such as we see on medals and bas-reliefs.
Shakespeare used the epithet to distinguish it from the English
bow, whose shape [when bent] is the segment of a circle" (Douce) ;
painted ... lath, not a real bow made of yew, but a painted imi-
tation made of a slip of such wood as is used for toys.

6. like a crow-keeper, as a crow-keeper scares crows ; a crow-
keeper is a boy employed to scare birds from the crops, of
which crows are supposed to be the greatest enemies ; but the
word is also used of a stuffed figure, made of sticks with an old
coat covering it, and sometimes ai-med with a bow ; in this pas-
sage, as Nares points out, such a iigure is clearly meant.

7. 8. Nor no ... entrance, nor any halting prologue, indistinctly
delivered as the actor follows the prompter reading from the
book at the wings of the stage, to gain admission for us. For
the emphatic double negative, see Abb. § 406. Ulrici supposes a
without-toook prologue to be a prologue not in tlie book — that is,
not composed by the poet ; but this seems a forced meaning, and
probably nothing more is meant than a contrast between pro-
logues read out from the book and those delivered from memory :
entrance, a trisyllable ent{e)rance ; see Abb. § 477.

9. But let them ...will, but, let them judge of us as they
please, take our measure by whatever standard they choose.

10. We'll measure ... gone, we will just go through a dance
with them and then depart ; a measure, though used for dancing

SCENE IV,] NOTES. 119

to music generally, was especially applied to a slow, stately,
dance resembling the later minuet : them, for them, for their
behalf, but probably used here to correspond with measure us in
the previous line. On what is commonly called the ethical
dative, see Abb. § 220.

11. Give me a torcli, let me play the part of torch-bearer : I
am not for, I am not inclined for, do not care to take part in :
ambling, used contemptuously of an affected manner of move-
ment ; cp. Haml. iii. 1. 151, "you jig, you amble, and you lisp
... and make your wantonness your ignorance."

12. Being ... light, tlie same pun as in i. 1. 164.

13. we must . . . dance, we shall not be contented unless you
dance.

15. nimble, light, and so enabling the wearers to be nimble,
acti^-e : soul, of course with the sorry pun which Shakespeare
has again in M. V. iv. 1. 123, J. G. i. 1. 15.

16. So stakes me, ...move, which so pins me down that I
cannot move ; for the omission of the relative, see Abb. § 244.

18. above ... bound, to a height to which without them you
could not leap.

19. enpierced, pierced in my heart ; see Abb. § 440.

20. and so bound, and Mith that restraint, pinned down as I
am by his shafts ; of course for the sake of the quibble. Steevens
quotes a similar quibble in Paradise Losl iv. 18, though there
the substantive means boundary, limit.

21. bound a pitch above, soar above. Taken in connection
with the previous line, pitch is probably used in the teclinical
sense of the height to which a falcon towers ; for tliat sense used
figuratively, as here, cp. E. II. i. 1. 109, " How high a pitch his
resolution soars"; /. C. i. 1. 78, "Will make him fly an ordi-
nary pitch " ; dull, heavy, laden.

29. a case, a mask.

30, 1. A visor ... deformities, a fig for masks ! I care nothing
what prying ej^e examines the blemishes of my face, notes the
plainness of my face. A visor for a visor ! apparently means '.I
care not a jot, not the value of a mask, for the concealment of my
plainness which a visor affords : quote, cp. T. C. iv. 5. 233, " I
have with exact view perused thee, Hector, And quoted every
joint " ; Haml. ii. 1. 112, " I am sorry that with better heed and
judgement I had not quoted him."

32. Here are ... me, if anything is to blush for me, it shall be
these beetle-brows of mine, i.e. I '11 face them all without being
in the least ashamed of myself : beetle-brows, probably heavy
and shaggy, bushy, brows : the etymology is doubtful, but "it is
probable . . . that the comparison is to the short tufted antenna of

120 ROMEO A.ND JULIET. [act i.

some species of beetles, projecting at right angles to the head,
which might have been called ' eyebrows ' in Eng. as well as in
Fr. ; for the expression sourcils de hannetou 'cockchafers' eye-
brows ' is the name given to a species of fringe made in
imitation to the antemiEe of these insects " (Murray, Eng. Diet.).

33,4. and no sooner ... legs, and let us all, as soon as we
enter, engage in the dance ; i. e. so as more easily to escape
observation.

35. Tickle ... heels, caper about in the dance ; senseless, with-
out feeling, which may be tickled without objecting to it, but
also with an allusion to the empty-headedness of the wantons
themselves. In the days before carpets, it was customary to
strew the floors with rushes.

37. For I am ... phrase, for I am fortified against such frivoli-
ties by an old-world proverb which suits ray frame of min.d. The
grandsire phrase is apparently that of the following line, of
which Steevens gives an illustration from Ray's Proverbs, " A
good candle-holder," i.e. spectator, " proves a good gamester. "
Some commentators include the next line also, while Malone
refers the phrase to that line alone. Milton uses ' ' proverbed "
as= 'made a byword of,' S. A. 203, "Am I not sung and pro-
verbed for a fool In every street."

39. The game ... done. Malone says tlie proverb " Our sport
is at the best " (see below i. 5. 117) meant ' we have had enough
of it ' ; Ritson that tlie allusion is to "a proverbial saying which
advises to give over when the game is at the best " ; though how
this would apply to Romeo's state of mind, it is not easy to see.
Possibly the meaning is ' The game (i.e. dancing) was never one
I much cared for, and I am not going to argue the point further.'

40. Tut, dun's the mouse . . . word, nonsense ! what have you to
do with the word dun (done) 1 It comes very well from the lips
of a constable in his favourite phrase, but not from a fine fellow
like you. What precise meaning the phrase had has not been
discovered, though there is of course a reference to the colour of
the mouse, and the same quibble with done is found in many old
writers. Nor is it clearer why the monopoly should belong to
the constable. Malone, indeed, supposes it to have meant
" Peace, be still ! " but the passage he quotes seems to prove
nothing. Possibly it had no more pertinence to the occasion
than the oft-repeated exclamation of Mr. F. 's Aunt, ' ' There 's
milestones on the Dover road," while it was equally comforting
to the speaker with the old lady's " blessed word" Mesopotamia.
For word, = saying, cp. E. II. i. 3. 152, " The hopeless icord of
' never to return. ' "

41. 2. If thou art dun ... love. " D^m is in the mire is a Christ-
mas gambol, at which I have often played. A log of wood is

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 121

brought into the midst of the room : this is Dun (the cart-horse),
and a cry is raised that he is stuck in the mire. Two of the com-
pany advance, either with or without ropes, to draw him out.
After repeated attempts, tliey find tliemsehes unable to do it,
and call for more assistance. The game continues till all the
company take part in it, when Dun is extricated of course ; and
the merriment arises from the awkward and affected efforts of the
rustics to lift the log, and from sundry arch contrivances to let
the ends of it fall on one another's toes. This will not be thouglit
a very exquisite amusement ; and yet I have seen much honest
mirth at it" (GLfFord). The saying, which was also the name of
a tune, was a very old one, and Douce quotes it from the
^lanciple's prologue in Chaucer, 1. 4 : this sir-reverence love, this
dung-heap, love. The term sir-reverence is a corruption of ' save
reverence,' Lat. sahd rererentid, an apologetical expression for the
use of anything indelicate, and later on '• in one instance became
the substitute for tlie word which it originally introduced ; as ' I
trod in a so" reverence^ — dropping the real name of the thing "
(Nares).

43. we burn daylight, we are wasting time ; originally used of
burning candles by daylight, as Mercutio explains in answer to
Romeo's literal acceptation of the words.

45. light lights. The quartos, except the first, give " liyhts
lights by day." I have followed Daniel in adopting Nicholson's
easy and most satisfactory emendation.

46, 7. Take our good meaning ... wits, take our words as they
were meant, for it is in that meaning that our good sense shows
itself much oftener thanJn_tii£ai^ajQ£jiurJive_^^ ii our words
are strictTy taken, they are often misunderstood. The five wits
were common wit, imagination, fantasy, estimation [i.e. judg-
ment), and memory ; though the phrase was sometimes used as
an equivalent to the five senses.

48. mask, masquerade, masked ball ; not a masked entertain-
ment sucli as that in the Teinpest, iv. 1, or Milton's Gomus.

53. Queen Mab. The origin of the name Mab is uncertain, and
Shakespeare, according to Thorns, is apparently the earliest
writer to give her the title of queen. He mentions that Beaufort,
in his Antient Topography of Ireland, speaks oi Mabh as the
chief of the IcishJaiues, and adds that the word Mab is Celtic,
meaning both in Welsh, and in tlie kindred dialects of Brittany,
a child or infant, " and it would be difficult to find an epithet
that better befits Shakespeare's description of the dwarf-like
sovereign. " If Shakespeare was the first to apply the designa-
tion of Fairy Queen to Mab, that designation seems to have been
a well-recognized one, for Jonson in his Satyr, written in 1603,
speaks of " a bevy of Fairies, attending on Mab their queen."

122 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

54. the fairies' midwife, the fairy whose " department it was to
deliver the fancies of sleeping men of their dreams, those children
of ail idle hrain " (Steevens) ; see 1. 94, below.

55. In shape . . . agate-stone, in size no bigger than the small
figures engraved, or cut in relief, on agate stones set in rings.
Shakespeare again refers to these figures as symbols of diminutive-
ness, in M. A. iii. 1. 65, where Beatrice is said to compare a tall
man to " a lance ill-headed " and a short one to " an agate vilely
cut" ; while in ii. H. IV. i. 2. 19, Falstaif, speaking of his page,
says " I was never manned roith an agate till now."

56. On the ... alderman. In the first quarto for alderman we
have hurgomanter, the Dutch equivalent of our mayor, and
Steevens points out that in the old pictures of these dignitaries
the ring is generally placed on the fore-finger, whereas in England
it appears to have been more commonly worn on the thumb.

57. atomies, only another form of atonw, the Lat. pi. of
atomus, atomi, being treated as an English singular ; literally
something so small as to be incapable of division ; cp. v4 . Y. L.
iii. 2. 245, " It is as easy to count atomies as to resolve the pro-
positions of a lover. "

59. long- spinners' legs, what children call a ' daddy-long-legs,'
but different from the common spider ; cp. M. N. D. ii. 2. 21,
" Hence, you long-legged spinners, hence !"

60. cover, awning, hood.

61. traces, that by which the vehicle is drawn.

64. grey-coated gnat, what Milton, Lyridas, 28, calls the
"gray-fly," either the trumpet-fly, or possibly the cricket.

66. Prick'd . . . maid, taken out with a needle from the finger of a
lazy maid. It was of old popularly believed that small parasites
were sometimes harboured in the flesh of the fingers of lazy per-
sons. Nares quotes Beaumont and Fletcher, TAe Woman Hater,
iii. 1. Ill, 2, "Keep thy hands in thy nmff and warm the idle
Worms in thy fingers' ends."

67-9. Her chariot . . . coachmakers. Lettsom would place these
lines after 1. 58, as "it is preposterous to speak of the parts of a
chariot before mentioning the chariot itself": joiner, carpenter,
grub, worm ; the squirrel and the grub, because the former is
fond of cracking nuts, and the latter of boring its way through
the shell, both eating the kernel and so hollowing out the shell
which thereby becomes fitted for a coach for fairies.

69. Time out o' mind, from time immemorial.

70. in this state, with this pomp and splendour.

72. court'sies, bowing and cringing in the presence of those
whose favour they seek to win.

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 123

73. straight, straightway, immediately.

76. Because ... are, allusions to the sweatmeats eaten by ladies
to sweeten the breath are very common in the old dramatists,
and one of the names given to them was "kissing-comfits," as in
3f. W. V. 5. 22.

78. smelling out a suit, scenting out some appointment, office,
etc., for which he might become a suitor to the king, or to those
high in his favour. As courtiers have already been mentioned,
it has been proposed to substitute ' counsellor's ' here.

79. tithe-pig, a pig given to a priest in payment of tithes, or
tenth parts of the parishioner's annual income.

81. another benefice, I.e. an increase to his income by his being
presented with a richer living, better church preferment, or
perhaps a living in addition to that already held by him, it
l)eing common in those days for priests to hold more than one
living at a time.

84. Spanish blades. The toledo, a sword made at Toledo, in
Spain, was in high favour formerly, the steel of the blade being
of gi'eat excellence and finely tempered.

85. Of healths ... deep, of jKrha,tions without stint : of cups
which no_thirst could dl^ain dry ; the pledges drunk to the health
of friends, mistresses, etc., are "put for the cup from which they
are drunk.

80. Drums in his ears, he dreams that the signal for battle has
been sounded by the drums, and he must up and arm.

87. swears a prayer or two, his vocabulary is so largely made
up of oaths that even when in his alarm lie tries to remember a
prayer, he cannot do so without an admixture of blasphemy ; cp.
A. Y. L. ii. 7. 150, "Then a soldier. Full of strange oaths, and
bearded like the pard."

88. And sleeps again. Cp. Mach. ii. 2. 22-5, where, during the
murder of Duncan, the sleeping chamberlains start up in their
sleep, "There's one did laugh in 's sleep, and one cried 'Mur-
der ' : I stood and heard them : But they did say their prayers,
and address'd them Again to sleep."

89. That plats . . . night. ' ' It was believed that certain malig-
nant spirits ... assumed occasionally the likeness of women clothed
in white ; that in this character they sometimes haunted stables
in the night-time, carrying in their hands tapers of wax, which
they dropped on the horses' manes, thereby plaiting them in
inextricable knots" ... (Douce).

90. And bakes . . . hairs, and causes the hair of those who are
uncleanly in person to become caked in elf knots ; the reference
is said to be to a horrid disease called plica poloiiica, in which the
hair became injected with blood, an inlliction superstitiously

124 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

attributed to the malice of wicked elves. See next note, and cp.
Lear, ii. 3. 10, "my face I'll grime with filth; Blanket my
loins ; and elf my hair in knots. " For baked = caked, clotted,
cp. Haml. ii. 2. 481, "horridly trick'd With blood of fathers,
mothers, daughters, sons. Baked and impasted with the parching
streets." Queen Mab's hatred of sluttishness is again referred
to in M. W. V. 5. 50, ' ' Elves, list your names ; silence, you airy
boys. ' Cricket, to Windsor chimneys slialt thou leap : Where fires
thou find'st unraked and hearths unswept, There pinch the maids
as blue as bilberry : Our radiant queen hates sluts and sluttery'" ;
a passage which Jouson has imitated in his Satyr, 34-7, where,
speaking of " Mab, the mistress Fairy," he says, "She that
pinclies country wenches. If they rub not clean their benches.
And with sharper nails remembers When they rake not up their
embers."

91. Whicli once ... bodas, the disentangling of which forebodes,
etc. The nominative to bodes is the adjectival clause WMch
untangled; so the noun clause in Haml. iii. 1. 182, "Whereon
his brain.s still beating put.s him thus From fashion of himself,"
i.e. the beating of his brains puts ; ^. C. i. 2. 115, " our ills told
us Is as our earing," i.e. the telling of our ills is, etc. Why the
disentanglement should have tliis effect is not clear, unless it is
that it would further provoke the malice of Mab at seeing her
work undone. On this subject of "elf-locks" and the " ejj-
tangling " or the " ?t?itangling " there has in recent years been
much controversy. Daniel, in the revised edition of our play,
published by the New Shakspere Society, prefers "e?itangled,"
believing the entanglement, not the disentanglement, to be in-
auspicious. W. G. Black, in Notes and Queries, 5th Series, xi.
22, quotes a passage from Sir T. Overburie's Vision, 1616, which
perhaps bears out Daniel's contention ; and W. G. Stone, in the
same journal, xi. 205, quotes from Turner's Remarkahle Pro-
vidence, 1697, a further passage in support of the same view.
" ' Pride of Hair was punished,' saith Dr. Bolton, 'at first with
an ugly Intanglement, sometime in the form of a great Snake,
sometime of many little ones, full of Nastiness, Vermin, and
noisome Smell ; and that which is most to be admired, and never
Age saw before, pricked with a Needle, they yielded bloody
drops. This first began in Poland, afterwards entered into
Germany ; and all that then cut off liis horril>le snaky Hair,
either lost their Eyes, or the Humour falling down upon other
Parts tortured them extremely ' . . . " Brinsley Nicholson remarks
that " while a felting or inextricable interlacing of the hair — a
result of neglect and want of cleanliness — was doubtless known
in England (a state called by Dr. Copland ' false plica '), there is
not, so far as I am aware, any recorded instance of the occiirrence
of the true iMca polonica in England so early as Shakespeare's
time." J. W. Legg says that if there is an allusion here to the

SCENE TV.] NOTES. 125

plica polonica, "it is absolutely necessary to accept the early
reading 'untangled.' If we accept ' entangled ' as the reading,
then we must reject any allusion under the name of ' elf-locks '
to the }>lica : for the entanglement of the ]>lica boded no misfor-
tune ; it was a piece of great good fortune, which lasted for ever
if the hair did not become untangled."

93. Thou talk'st of nothing, j^our talk is all nonsense.

95. fantasy, fancy ; of which it is the older form.

96. of substance, as regards substance ; in the matter of sub-
stance.

97. wooes, with the hope of softening it.

98. 9. Even now ... And, at one moment ... and at the next.

100. dew-dropping south, so Cymh. iv. 2. 34-9, "the f^pongy
south"; and of the south wind, A. Y. L. iii. 5. 50, " Like/of/r/y
south puffing with M'ind and rain."

101. This wind ... ourselves, this inconstancy, in which we
resemble the wind, diverts us from our purpose, is hindering us
from joining the festivities.

103. misgives, forebodes ; more commonly with the reflexive
pronoun.

104. yet ... stars, as yet impending in the stars that govern
our fates, not yet fallen, but threatening to do so.

105. shall bitterly ... date, is surely about to start on that
cruel course which shall end so fatally. Cp. below, ii. 2. 117.

106. expire, for other instances of intransitive verbs used
transitivelj% see Abb. § 291.

107. 8. Of a despised ... death, of my unfortunate life prema-
turely paying the penalty of an undeserved death ; despised,
held of no account by the poA\-ers above ; not thought worthy of
being allowed the ordinary span.

110. lusty gentlemen, my brave fellows.

114. strike, drum, said to the attendant bearing the drum,
which gives the signal for resuming the march of the procession.

SCEXE V.

1, 2. Where's Potpan . . . away ? What can Potpan be about,
that he is not here to help in removing the plates and dishes?
he shift ... a trencher ! does he call himself a waiter ? he is a
pretty sort of felloM' to call himself a waiter Avhen he thus neglects
his duties : a trencher, from F. trencher, to cut, was a wooden
platter used to cut food upon, and cleaned by scrapmg : shift a
trencher, as we should now say 'change the plates.' Nicliols

126 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

points out that these platters wei-e continued much longer in
public societies, particularly in Colleges and Inns of Court, and
that they are still retained at Lincoln's Inn.

3, 4. When good ... thing, when it comes to this that nearly
every one forf^ets his duties, that perhaps only one otiiKO — and
those fellows with hands begrimed with tlieir dirty work — re-
member to do their work, things are at a pretty pass ; shall has
the idea of inevitable consequence ; foul, used in the double sense
of 'shameful' and 'dirty.'

5. joint-stools, stools that folded up when not in use : court-
cupboard, ' ' a sort of movable sideboard without doors or drawers,
in which was displayed the plate of the establishment " (Dyce).

6. plate, the silver dishes, forks, spoons, etc., of which it was
necessary to take care that they should not be stolen ; the word
is nothing more than the feminine of the F. plat, flat, but in the
form ^j/ato was by the Spanish used of silver plate. Good thou,
my good fellow ; on the use of thou, see Abb. §§231, 232.

7. marchpane, a confection common in the desserts of our
ancestors, of which various recipes are given, the ingredients
being principally almonds, filberts, sugar, and flour : as thou
lovest me, if you love me, as I am sure you do.

12,3. Cheerly, hoys ;... all, stir younselves, my boys; don't
grudge a little extra labour ; he who lives longest will inherit
most; the latter words being a proverb (somewhat like "the
devil take the hindmost") meaning 'he who works hardest and
lives longest will fare the best. '

14. gentlemen, said to Romeo and his friends.

15. a hout with you, a turn at dancing with you. Daniel
follows the later quartos and the folios in reading " walk a bout "
{i.e. the adverb 'about,' generally written in Shakespeare's day
as two words), comparing M.A. ii. 1. 99, " Lady, will you walk
a bout, with your friend," said as an invitation to dance.

16. my mistresses, my fine madams.

17. Will now ... dance, will have the courage, by refusing to
dance, to admit that she has corns : makes dainty, hesitates
about dancing.

18. am I ... now? have I touched you to the quick by hinting
that some of you possibly have corns? Corns being commonly
caused by wearing too tight shoes, the ladies by admitting that
they were troubled in this way, Avould be confessing to the vanity
of trying to make their feet look smaller than they naturally
were.

19. I have seen the day, I can well recall the time.

22. 'tis gone, 'tis gone, 'tis gone, but that is long, long, ago ;
said with a regretful repetition. Cp. the solemn repetition in

SCENE v.] NOTES. - 127

Mach. V. 5. 19, "To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,

Creeps in tliis petty pace from day to day."

24. A hall, a hall ! Clear the room for the dance ; as we say,
" A ring, a ring ! " M-hen preparations are being made for a light
Avith iists : foot it, dance away merrily ! So, Temp. i. 2. 380,
''Foot it featly here and there"; for it, used indefinitely, see
Abb. § 226.

25. you knaves, you fellows there; hiave, from A.S. cnafa, a
boy, was of old used in the sense of servant, the modern sense
being of later origin ; and Capulet here uses the term in good-
humoured command : turn the tables up, fold up the tables (and
set them against the wall to give more room) ; tables in former
days were like the modern camp tables, the leaves and the frame
on which they were spread out being made to fold up.

28. cousin. Used in Shakespeai-e for any relationship not of
the first degree.

31. Were in a mask, took part in a masquerade: By 'r lady,
by our lady, i.e. the Virgm Mary, Mother of Christ; a common
form of petty oath.

33. nuptial, marriage ; in Shakespeare's day the word was
used in the singular, as conversely ' funerals,' F. funerailles, Lat.
funtra, both plural, where we should use the singular.

34. Come pentecost . . . will, however quick Pentecost may
come ; not till Pentecost, however near that may be. Pentecost,
Whitsuntide, originally a Jewish festival, Gk. irevTCKOo tt| (T||A£'pa),
the fiftieth (day), sc. after the Passover.

35. we mask'd, we took part in a masquerade.

36. elder, older ; we now use the word only in comparison of
ages.

37. Will you ... that, nonsense ! how can you say such a thing.

38. ward, one under guardianship ; not yet of age.

39. What lady, the use of what is less definite than if the ques-
tion had been ' who is that lady ? '

39, 40. which ... knight, who graces the hand of yonder knight
by taking it in the dance : on that ... which, see Abb. § 267.

43, 4. It seems ... ear. Steevens compares <S'o?iH. xxvii. 11, 2,
" Which, like a jewel hung in ghastly night, Makes black night
beauteous and her old face new " : Etliijipe's, generically for any
daiik-skinned race ; '\n A. Y. L. iv. 3. 35, it is ever used figura-
tivel}' of'wi'itteii irorch, ' ' Such Ethiop words, blacker in their
effect Than in their countenance. "

45. too rich for use, too splendid for common wear ; cp. 3f. A.
ii. 1. 340-2, where Beatrice, on the Prince asking whether she
would have him as a husband, replies, ' ' No, my lord, unless I

128 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i,

might have another for working-days : your grace is too costly to
wear every day."

46. trooping' with crows, the reference is to a flock of crows
alighting on a field and marching about in search of worms.

47. her fellows, not ' her equals ' but ' her associates,' those like
her taking part in the dance.

48. The measure ... stand, as soon as the dance is over, I will
watch to see w^here she takes up her position, i.e. to wait till she
accepts a partner for the next dance. In watch ... stand Shake-
speare was probably thinking of the station taken up by the
huntsman watching for game, as in L. L. L. iv. 1. 10, Cymh.
iii. 4. Ill, Juliet being the game which Romeo is to stalk.

49. my rude hand, my hand which will be guilty of profanity
in venturing to touch hers.

50. forswear it, sight ! he appeals to his eyes to disclaim hav-
ing ever before seen real beauty.

52. should be a Montague, cannot possibly be any but a member
of the house of jMontague ; ought to be a member, etc. , unless I
am greatly mistaken ; should being the past tense of shall, inherits
the idea of necessity belonging to that word.

54. an antic face. "Tybalt refers to the mask which Romeo
had donned, a grinning face such as merry-andrews wear"
(Delius) ; antic, originally, as here, an adjective, and a doublet of
antique, meaning "old," then "old-fashioned," and finally
"fancifxd," "odd."

55. To fleer ... solemnity, to grin and mock at our festivities ;
solemnity, originally something occurring annually like a religious
rite, Lat. solemnis, annual, then anything celebrated with pomp
and parade; cp. Macb. iii. 1. 14, "To-night we hold a solemn
supper, sir" ; T. A. v. 2. 115, "And bid him come and banquet
at thy house. When he is here, even at thy solemn /east " ;
especially a nuptial celebration, as in Jil. jV. D. v. 1. 376, "A
fortnight hold we this solemnity, In nightly revels and new
jollity."

56. by the stock ... Mn, I swear by the honour of that family to
which I am proud to belong.

57. I hold . . . sin. Here it is really superfluous, the construction
being ' I hold the striking of him dead not a sin, no sin.' Abbott
(§417) takes To strike as equivalent to a noun absolute.

60. in spite, out of malice ; with a malicious intention, sc. that
of scorning.

61. To scorn at. Though we still use the preposition at after
' scorn ' as a substantive, we omit it after the verb.

62. Young Romeo is it ? this is said more as an assertion than

SCENE v.] NOTES. 129

as a question ; a question to which the speaker felt that he knew
the answer.

63. Content thee, do not vex yourself, keep your temper ; as
frequently in Shakespeare in the imperative mood with the
reflexive pronoun.

64. bears him, carries himself, behaves; portly, "this word,
in our day, in addition to the sense of ' dignity,' comprises some-
what of large and cumbrous ; which formerly it did not include"
(Clarke).

65. 6. brags ... be, is proud of him as being : wellgovern'd, of
well-regulated chai-acter and conduct.

67. for the wealth, even if by so doing I could acquire the
wealth.

68. do him disparagement, offer him an indignity ; act towards
him in a way unworthy of his rank (0. F. pai-age, lineage, rank).

69. be patient, restrain yovirself ; be calm.

70. the which, giving a more definite force tlian ichich alone,
"is generally used either where tlie antecedent, or some word like
the antecedent, is repeated, or else wliere such a repetition could
be made if desired. In almost all cases there are two or more
possible antecedents from which selection must be made " (Abb.
§ 270).

71. Show a fair presence, look pleasant and courteous.

72. An ill-beseeming semblance, in apposition with frowns ;
which give a look to the feast tliat ill becomes it.

74. shall be, said with imperious command ; I am determined
that he shall be allowed to take part in the feast.

75. What, goodman boy ! What ! my fine fellow, do you
presume to say wlio shall be endured and who not ? goodman
boy, used in the same sarcastic sense in Lear, ii. 2. 48, "With
you, goodman hoy, an you please " ; the term goodman was more
commonly applied in good-natured familiarity, to old men, like
• gaffer,' a corruption of grandfather : go to, don't talk nonsense ;
a phrase very commonly used in reproof or in exhortation.

77. You '11 not endure him I do yott tell me you'll not endure
him ? you ? said Mith great scorn.

77, 8. God shall ... guests ! is it you, in Heaven's name, that
are going to raise a riot among my guests? God ... soul, used as
a form of oath, and equivalent to the \nore modern vulgarism,
' As I hope to be saved.'

79. You will set cock-a-hoop ? You are going to set everything
at sixes and sevens, are you ? You are going to set all by the
ears, are you ? The origin of the phrase ' to set cock-a-hoop ' is
doubtful. Blount, Glossographia, 1670, says that the ' cock ' was

I

130 KOMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

the spigot of a vessel, and that this being taken out and laid on
the ' hoop' of the vessel " they used to drink up the ale as it ran
out without intermission ... and then they were Cock-on- Hoop, i.e.
at the height of mirth and jollity".... But there is no clear
evidence that ' cock ' ever meant a spigot, or that the ' hoop ' of
the vessel was used as a place on which to lay it. Whatever its
origin, the phrase came by extension to mean (a) To abandon
oneself to reckless enjoyment, (b) To cast off all restraint, become
reckless, (c) To give a loose to all disorder, to set all by the ears.
In modern use ' cock-a-hoop ' means elated, exultant, boastfully
and loudly triumphant. The attenipt to connect ' hoop ' with
the F. kuppe, a tufted crest, or with 'whoop' as in 'war-
whoop,' are mere guesses. See Murray's Enrj. Diet. : you 11 he
tlie man ! you are going to take this upon you, are you ! a pretty
fellow you to assume this function !

81. is 't so, indeed ? Ulrici points out that this is an answer
to some remark of one of the guests, and so also the words, ' I
know what,' in the next line, are an interrupted answer or
address to a guest. So, too, perhaps, the words 'marry 'tis
time,' in the following line.

82. This trick ... you, you may possibly find that this freak of
yours will hereafter cost you dear. The reading of the old copies
is "This trick may chance to scathe you, I know what" : and
if this is the genuine reading, the meaning will be" this freak
of yours may chance to cost you dear in a certain way that
I am not going to mention " ; a dark hint probably that Tybalt
will find himself not mentioned in his will.

83. You must contrary me ! the idea that you of all men in the
world should venture to cross me in this way ! The verb contrary
(with the accent penultimate) was common in former days, and
the adjective with the same accent is still to be heard among un-
educated persons.

84. Well said, my hearts ! Well done, my brave fellows ; my
hearts, an exclamation of encouragement; so "my hearties."
still among sailors : a princox, a conceited upstart ; derived by
some from Lat. prcecox, early ripe, precocious ;~by^ others from ^
prime-cock, a cock of fine spirit, hence a pert, conceited, forward '
person.

86. I '11 make you quiet, if you will not be quiet of your own
accord, I will take means to make you so.

87, 8. Patience ... greeting, enforced patience meeting with
passionate anger in my breast makes me tremble all over with
their hostile encounter, i.e. what with this restraint put upon
me by my uncle and my own passionate indignation, I am all of
a tremble; cp. Mach. i. 3. 139, 40, "My thought, ...Shakes so

SCEXE v.] NOTES. 131

my single state of man," though the shaking there is figurative.
Steevens quotes the proverb "Patience jyerforce is a medicine for
a mad dog. "

89, 90. but tMs intrusion ... gall, Romeo may enjoy himself for
the moment, but hereafter lie shall paj' dearly for having thrust
himself in upon our festivities. Lettsom takes sweet as a sub-
stantive and convert as transitive, but the verb is frequently
used intransitively in Shakespeare, and it seems imnecessary to
insist upon the antithesis.

92-4. tbe gentle fine . . kiss, the appropriate penance, which I
shall think a light one, is that my lips, here ready for the pur-
pose, should smooth away that profane touch bj^ a tender kiss,
as devout pilgrims wipe out their sins, by kissing the shrine to
which thej' have made their pilgrimage ; the reading of the old
copies is "gentle .sm," or "sinne ," and is retained by Ulrici and
Delius, though their explanation seems very forced. Ulrici
shows that ' Romei ' was formerly a title given to pilgrims to
Rome, by later Italian writers to pilgrims generally, and thinks
that this accounts for Romeo's assuming a pilgrim's dress.

96. wWcli mannerly . . . this, which, instead of being guilty of
profanation in toucliing mine, only shows a courteous reverence.

97, 8. For saints . . kiss, for even saints allow their hands to
be touched by pilgrims, and jnjpincf h.nnd in hand is the saluta-
tion used by holy palmers. Palmers were pilgrims who had
visited the sacred shrine in Palestine, and brought back palms in
token of their having accomplished their pilgrimage. Thej^ are
here called holy as having thus earned forgiveness of their sins.

101. what hands do, sc. kiss, as Juliet had said that the hands
of holy palmers did.

102. They pray, ... despair, their pi-ovince is to pray, yours to
answer thei£_praver ; \\hich uiiless_vQu do, my faith will-tofH to
despaix^ Grant White follows the old copies in putting a comma
only after do in the previous line, and explains, " they [i.e. the
lips] pray that they may do what hands or palms do : grant thou
this," etc.

103. do not move, do not allow themselves to be won over
from what they know to be right.

104.- move not, pretending to take her words literally : my
prayer's effect, the result of my prayer, that which my prayer
has been eftectual in obtaining.

106. took, frequent in Shakespeare, as well as taken.

107. 0 trespass sweetly urged ! hoAv sweetly do you accuse me
of sin ! it is no pain to be accused of sin in such terms as you use.

108. You kiss by the hook, " you kiss methodically ; you oflfer
as many reasons for kissing, as could have been found in a

132 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act i.

treatise professedly written on the subject" (Amner, i.e. Steevens).
So, in A. Y. L. v. 4. 95, " we quarrel in print, hy the hook," i.e.
according to rules duly laid down ; cp. Haml. v. 1. 149, " we
must speak hy the card," i.e. with the utmost preciseness.
110. What, who ; but with a sense of indefiniteness.

114. lay hold of her, win her as his bride.

115. the chinks, her father's wealth ; the chinking coin.'

116. 0 dear account ... debt, 0 sad relation! then is my life
forfeited tp, at the mercy of, one who is my ioci. since, as
Staunton says, bereft of Juliet he could not live.

117. the sport... best, we shall not by staying see anything
better than what we have seen.

118. Ay, so ...unrest, Romeo, applying the words in a larger
sense, says, I fear indeed that I shall never know such happiness
as I have known this night.

120. a trifling . . . towards, a slight banquet, feast, nearly ready.
Schmidt takes banquet here as = dessert, which seems to me to
spoil Capulet's affected humility : towards, m this sense Shake-
speare more commonly uses toward, as e.g. M. N. D. iii. 1. 81,
Haml. V. 2. 376.

121. Is't e'en so? must you really go? said in answer to the
excuses of Romeo and his friends : thank you all, i.e. for coming.

124. sirrah, said to one of the servants : by my fay, assuredly ;
fay, a corruption of ' faith ' : waxes, grows, is becoming.

126. yond, properly an adverb, as yon is properly an adjective.

129. that ... be, a confusion of ' That, I think, is,' and ' I think
that that he' (Abb. §411) ; but probably a confusion that would
only be put into the mouth of an illiterate person.

1,33. My grave ... bed, I am not likely ever to marry ; except
my union with death I shall have no marriage. Cp. Romeo's
lament, v. 3. 102-5.

136. My only ... hate ! To think that the only love I can ever
feel should have sprung from him whom above all men I am
bound to hate ! hate, object of hatred.

137. Too early ... late ! Alas, that I should ever have seen
him, without knowing who he was, and should have found out
who he is only when it is too late to recall the love 1 have given
him !

138. 9. Prodigious ... enemy, portentous to me is the offspring
to which love has given birth, seeing that I am compelled to love
him who is (by the inheritance of an ancestral feud) a hated
enemy.

140,1. A rhyme, withal. The Nurse having overheard Juliet's
last words, slie, from terror of their being reported to her parents,

SCENE v.] NOTES. 133

pretends that she is only repeating some lines she has just heard ;
Anon, anon, coming, coming ; as a more modern writer would
say ; literally in one (moment), A.S. on, in, and an, an old form
of oiie ; see the amusing dialogue between the Prince and Francis
ini. H. IV.'ii. 4.

Act II. Prologue.

I, 2. Now old desire ... heir, Romeo's passing fancy for Rosa-
line is now atjts 1,-igt gasp, and his newly-conceived love for
Juliet is hastening to take its place in his heart. The desire for
something of the nature of a toy, something tliat merely capti-
vates the fancy, is giving way to real passion ; mere desire has
had its day and is now succeeded by a warmer, truer, feeling.
Cp. Tennyson, ^'^e Gardener's Daughter, 13-20.

3. fair, beauty ; frequently of old used in this sense, whether
in the abstract or the concrete sense : for . . . for, on the doubled
preposition, see Abb. § 407 : would die, determined to die.

4. With tender ... fair, Benvolio's prophesy, i. 2. 94-9, has now
come true.

6. Alike bewitched, i.e. hnth. equally hpwifp]iPf1

7. his foe supposed, her whom, as belonging to the Capulet
family, he would naturally regard as an enemy : complain, pour__
forth his plaints of love ; cp. T. G. v. 4. 5, " The nightingale's
complaining notes."

8. And she steal ... hooks, and she only by stealth pluck the

tpmpti'ng frni'tn n'liinVi Invn rliypliyg witli gn^l^ df?,'iger""« lurC.

II. And she .. less, while to her, equally love-stricken, the
means are much less ; a noininativus pendens.

14. Tempering... sweet, mingling with the keen dangers de-
lights as keen ; correcting the sharp taste of danger by the
sweetness which followed upon its being braved.

Scene I.

1, 2. Can I go ... out, can I leave the place and return home
when she, who is the fountain of my life, is here ? turn back,
gross, earthy l)ody, and iind in lier tlie pivot on -^vhivli yf>u-
reyolve ; for earth, in the sense of what is groas^or didl, cp.
7'emp. "What ho! .slave! Caliban? Thou eai-fh, thou!" B.
II. iii. 4. 78, " Darest thou, thou little ))etter thing than earth
Divine his downfal ? " For the simile Delius compares T. C. iii.
2. 186, "As true as steel, as plantage to the moon, As sun to
day, as turtle to her mate, As iron to adamant, as earth to the
centre."

134 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

3. wise, sc. in betaking himself to bed.

4. on my life, I will stake my life : stol'n him, we should now
omit the reflexive pronoun.

5. orchard, garden, as always in Shakespeare ; properly a yard
of orts or worts, i. e. vegetables ; now used only for a garden or
enclosure of fruit-trees.

6. I '11 conjure too, I will not only call, but also conjure him
in the terms suitable to one in love ; as he does in the following
lines.

7. humours, " amorous fancies " (Clarke). The various words
are in imitation of those used by conjurers in their invocations.

8. Appear thou . . . sigh. He calls upon him to appear in the
form of a sigh (a form appropriate to lovers) as conjurers and
witches invoked spirits in any form suitable to their ends.

9. Speak ... satisfied, utter but a single rhyme, the language in
which lovers speak, and I shall know that all is well with you,
that you have not broken your neck in the leap you took.

11. my gossip Venus, my dear old crony Venus. A gossip is
literally a gQikcelative, a sponsor in baptism, and as these
sponsors were frequently talkative old women, it came to mean
an idle, chattering person, and lastly idle talk, the modern
sense.

12. nick-name. Properly an eke-name, a name used to eke out
a name, an additional name, frequently with a familiar or
endearing or contemptuous sense ; cp. newt = an ewt, and con-
versely a7i auger = a nauger : purblind, originally, as here, pure-
blind, wholly blind ; so again in T. 0. i. 2. 31, "■' imrUind Argus,
all eyes and no sight " ; though iShakespeare also uses the word
in its more modern and less correct sense of partly blind^short
sighted, V. A. 679, i. H. VI. ii. 4. 21.

13. Adam Cupid. The old copies give Abraham Gupid ; Upton
conjectured Adam, which has been adopted by most modern
editors, the allusion being to Adam Bell, a notable archer, said
to be meant in M. J[. i. 1. 261, "If 1 do, hang me in a bottle and
shoot at me ; and he that hits me let him be clapped on the
shoulder, and called AaJsuol." Dyce conjectui-ed that Abraham
was a corruption of ahron, i.e. auburn, and this reading has
been accepted by Grant White and Hudson. Schmidt explains
the old reading as being "in derision of the eternal boyhood of
Cupid, though, in fact, he was at least as old as Abraliam " — a
very far-fetched explanation, as it seems to me. Others, again,
take Abraham as an allusion to the Abraham, or Abram, men, as
cheats and begging impostors were formerly called, Cupid's
roguery in love matters being the point of the raillery : he that
shot so trim, from the ballad of ' King Cophetua and the beggar
maid,' once so popular, of which Malone quotes the following

SCENE I.] NOTES. 135

stanza, " The blinded boy that shoots so trim. From heaven down
did hie, And drew a dart and shot at him, In place where he
did lie."

16. The ape, "an expression of tenderness, like poor fool"
{Lear, v. 3. 305] (^Slalone) ; so "poor monkey," Mach. iv. 2. 59.

18. high forehead. Formerly considered a great beauty, as a
broad forehead is nowadays; so in Temp. iv. 1. 250, A. G. iii. 3. 35,
low foreheads are disparaged, though nowadays, if broad also,
they are admired by many. As Grant White says, "There are
fashions even in beaut j'."

19. in thy likeness, in your own form and shape ; not as in the
case of conjurers' invocations in some transformed shape.

20. An if, see Abb. § 103 : thou wilt anger him, sc. by ventur-
ing to make use of his mistress's name.

23. only but, one of the two words is superfluous.

25. To he consorted . . . night, to hold communion with the dewy
night ; but with a quibble upon humorous. Steevens quotes
several instances from old writers of the word used in a literal
sense, e.g. Chapman's translation of Homer's Iliad, bk. ii. , " The
other gods and knights at arms slept all the humourous night."

27. cannot hit the mark, cp. above, i. 1. 213-7.

28. truckle-bed, properly a bed on wheels (Lat. trodea, a wheel)
which was used by attendants, and in the daytime wheeled under
the ' standing bed ' ; cp. M. W. iv. 5. 7 ; sometimes called a
'trundle-bed,' as the first quarto reads. In speaking of his bed
as a truckle bed, Mercutio probably means that any bed, even a
truckle-bed, would be better than a "field-bed," i.e. lying upon
the cold ground.

29. to sleep, sc. in.

30. Go, then, yes, let us go.

31. that means ... found, that is determined not to be found ;
that 'means not-to-be found,' not that 'means-not to be. found.'

Scene II.

1. He jests ... wound, Mercutio, who never felt the wound of
love, may well jest at the scars which Cupid's arrows have left
in my heart. That this is not a general, but a particular, remark
is, I think, proved by the answering rhyme, as Staunton has
noticed. And as neither the folios nor tlie quartos make any
division of scene, such division, originally due to Rowe, seems
clearly wrong.

2. soft ! he bids himself 'hush,' cautions himself to talk in a
lower voice.

136 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

4. envious, jealous.

7. Be not her maid, no longer serve her, no longer keep a
vow to live unmarried ; as Diana's votaries pledged themselves
to do.

8. Her vestal . . . ^een, the life of chastity to which she binds
tiEc-pfiesteaafiais one of sickly, jauncliced, hue. In iickand green
there is probably, as Delius suggests, an allusion to the ' ' green-
sickness" of which Shakespeare often speaks, and which in
iii. 5. 157, below, Capulet applies as an epithet to Juliet in his
anger at her refusal of Paris, "Out, you greensickness^ carrion !
out, you baggage ! You tallow-face," — an ailment of languish-
ing girls characterized l)y a pale complexion. The reading of the
first quarto is pale for sick, and this is preferred by many editors.
Collier would change sioik into white, seeing in the line an allusion
to the white and green livery formerly worn by the Court fools ;
but it seems iinlikely that Shakespeare would use the word fools
in this literal sense when referring to Juliet, while, as Grant
White points out, if such an allusion were intended, it would be
obtained from the reading of the first quarto, pale, without the
violent change to white ; vestal livery. Vesta was the Roman god-
dess of the hearth, corresponding with the Greek Hestia, and her
priestesses were vowed to a life of chastity and celibacy ; cp. Per.
iii. 4. 10, "A vestal livery will I take me to, And never more
have joy."

12. what of that ? but that matters little.

13. discourses, is eloquent in its mere look.

16. some business, some private affairs of their own which
would be hindered by their having to perform their nightly duty
of lighting up the sky.

17. in their spheres. According to the Ptolemaic system of
astronomy, I'ound about the earth, which was the centre of the
system, were nine hollow spheres, consisting of the seven planets,
the fixed stars or firmament, and the Primwn Mobile ; the
spheres "with the stars and planets in them being whirled round
tlie earth in twenty-four hours by the driving power, the Prinmm
Mobile.

21. the airy region, the upper air ; region, was originally a
division of the sky marked out by the Roman augurs. In later
times the atmosphere «-as divided into three regions, upper,
middle, and lower. Cp. also Haml. ii. 2. 509.

24, 5. 0, that , . . cheek, cp. Tennyson, The Miller's Daughter,
169-186.

28. winged messenger, angel.

29. white-upturned, turned up in adoration so that the pupils
are scarcely seen.

I

SCENE n.] NOTES. 137

30. fall back, stand back in awe, and also in order to get a
clearer view.

31. lazy-pacing, slowly drifting. Grant White compares
Macb. i. 7. 21-5 ; lazy-pacing is Pope's conjecture for lasie
pacing, of the first quarto ; the remaining quartos and the folios
give lazie, or lazj/, pvffiing.

34. refuse, disown, disclaim ; cp. T. C. iv. 5. 267, " We have

had pelting wars, since you refused The Grecians' cause."

37. speak at this, answer her without allowing her to go
further, interrupt her at this point.

39. Thou art ... Montague. Staunton explains " That is, as she
afterwards expresses it, you wnnMatiV! rpt«in pi] t]i° 2iprf°"tW>^
whi^h pidnrn 3'^""i •"-'"''' y"" ^i"*' f^Tlprl nrnntnipn^-'' ■ and so sub-
stantially Grant White, though Dyce calls such an explanation
"unintelligible." Others follow Malone in putting the comma
after though, as used in the sense of hoicever, with the explana-
tion that Juliet is simply endeavouring to account for Romeo's
being amiable and excellent though he is a Montague, to prove
•which she asserts that he merely bears the name, but has none of
the qualities of that house. Various emendations have also been
proposed, but Staunton's explanation seems to me quite satis-
factory.

42. be some other name, be somebody else in name than
Montague. Lettsom ol>jects that Shakespeare could not have
written " fte some other name"; but after the expression
" What 's Montague ? ", where " Montague " is used as though it
were a thing, there seems no reason why we should not have
"be some other name."

46. owes, owns ; as frequently in Elizabethan literature, the
final n of the M. E. oicen, to pcssess, being dropped. The
modern sense of the word ' to be in debt,' ' to be obliged,' comes
from the sense of possessing another's property, but the word
has no etymological connection with to ' own ' = to possess ; it
being from the A.S. cigan, to have, while the latter is from the
A.S. cignian, to appropriate, claim as one's own, from dgn, con-
tracted form of ugeii, one's own (Skeat, My. Diet.).

47. doff, put off ; do off, as don, do on ; dtq-), do up ; dout,
do out.

48. for thy name, in exchange for your name.

53. So stumblest on my counsel, come so unexpectedly upon
my secret thouglits ; cp. M. X. D. i. 1. 216, " Emptying our
bosoms of their counsel sweet," i.e. confiding to each other our
inmost thoughts.

53, 4. By a name... am, if I could let you know who I am

138 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

without using a name, I would gladly do so, for it is impossible
for me to name myself without distressing you.

55. saint. Delius points out that this word recalls their first
meeting when, as a pilgrim, Romeo had thus greeted Juliet.

58. drunk, unconsciously acknowledging the avidity with
which she had listened to his words.

61. if either thee dislike, if either be unpleasant to your ears ;
dislike is really impersonal, as in 0th. ii. 3. 49, "I '11 do 't ; but

it mislike.s me."

64. And the place death, and to venture liere is to risk your
life.

66. o'er-perch these walls, fly over these walls and settle here,
as a bird settles upon a branch after a flight from some other
spot ; a perch is literally a rod, bar, then a bough or twig on which
a bird settles.

67- stony limits, limits formed of stone, i.e. walls ; stony, more
commonly used as = of the nature of.

69. are no let to me, are no hindrance to me, cannot bar my
way and keep me out.

71. Alack, according to Skeat, either a corruption of ' ah !
lord,' or, which seems more probable, from ah! and M. E. lak,
loss, failure.

73. proof against, able to endure, hold out against ; see note
on i. 1. 216.

76. but thou love me . . . here, except, unless, you love me, I
am quite willing that they should find me here and kill me ;
without your love, life to me is not worth living.

787~Than death . . . love, tliaii_that my death should be delayed
if I am to be without your love ; prorogued, the Lat. prorogare
was to propose a further extension of ofiice, lience to defer,
though literally meaning only to ask publicly, from^:>ro-, publicly,
and rogare, to ask.

81. counsel, advice.

83. vast shore. "Lat. vasttis, empty, waste" (Walker).

84. I would adventure for, I would make my voyage in quest
of, however great the danger.

88. Fain ... form, gladly would I, if it were possible, stand on
ceremony with you, treat you with distant formality ; Fain, pro-
perly an adjective.

89. but farewell compliment, "but away with formality and
punctilio " (Staunton) ; I'now cast such things to the winds.

93. laughs, good-humouredly disdains fnjTii'iisb \hpjii. Douce
compares Marlowe's translation of Ovid's A7-t of Love, i. 633,

SCENE II.] NOTES, 139

" For Jove himself sits in the azure skies, And laughs below at
lover's perjuries," from which he thinks that Shakespeare bor-
rowed.

94. pronounce it faithfully, assure me of your love without
adding an oath to contirm your words.

97. So, provided that.

98. fond, foolishly loving ; fond, originally fonned, the past
participle of the verb/orme?t, to act foolishly, from the substantive
fon, a fool.

99. light, full of leiitj^r wanton.

101. more cunning ... strange, more skill in affecting coyness.

104. passion, passionate confession ; the word was formerly
used of any strong emotion.

106. Which the dark ... discovered, which (love) has been re-
vealed to you by tlie darkness of the niglit whose office should be
to conceal ; which you have discovered thanks to the darkness of
the night.

110. circled, revolving; not, I think, 'round," as Schmidt
explains.

111. likewise, equally.

113. gracious, attractive, finding favour in my eyes ; cp. T. A.
i. 1. 429, " if ever Tamora Were gracious in those princely eyes
of thine. " This is the reading of the first quarto, the other old
copies giving glorious, which Grant White thinks more suitable
to the context.

114. of my idolatry, that I worship.

117. I have ... to-night, I feel no joy in now ratifying with
oaths a contract between us. Lik Romeo, i. 4. 106-11, she has
a presentiment of some evil befalling their plighted love.

118. unadvised, imprudent, formed without sufficient con-
sideration.

121,2. This bud of love . . . meet, this new love of ours, cherished
in our hearts, may expand into full growth by the time we next
meet, as beneath the summer's warmth the bud expands into a
beauteous blossom.

as that , . . breast, " as to that heart within my breast " (Delius).

126. satisfaction, Delius points out tlie double sense here of
jmyment and comfort.

129. And yet ... again, and yet I wish I had not given it, in
order that, J miglit nnw aga4H4tarVt; Lhi- juy of giving it. — ■

131. frank, liberal, free of hand; cp. Lear, iii. 4. 20, "Your
old kind father, whose frank heart gave all."

132. the thing I have. sc. her own infinite love.

140 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

143. If that . . honourable, if your love is honourable in its
intentions ; for that, as a conjunctional affix, see Abb. § 287.

145. procure to come, arrange to have sent.

146. the rite, sc. of marriage.

152. By and by, in a minute, directly.

153. suit. Malone quotes from Brooke's poem, Romeus and
Juliet, "and now your Juliet you beseekes To cease your sute,
and suffer her to live emong her likes. "

154. So thrive my soul — may my soul prosper (according as I
mean well to you), the concluding words being broken off by
Juliet's farewell.

156. A thousand ... light, in answer to Juliet's wish of r/ood-
night he says, nay, not good night but bad night, night made a
thousand times the worse by the absence of you who are its only
light.

158. toward . . . looks, .sc. as schoolboys go toward, etc.

159. Hist ! Listen !

159, 60. 0, for ... again ! would that I had a voice that would
bring bajJi_my gentle Romeo as supply as \hp fa.lpoi^pr'.ci vniot.
brinj:s_back ^eJasggTgentle ! ^'^The tassel or tiercel (for so it
sEould be .spelts Tsthp mM.1p~7.f ihp gn^f^lif,,^ylr ; so called because
it is a tierce or tjm-d less than thgjemale_. . . This species of hawk
had the epithet geiitle annexed toTt, from the ease with which it
was tamed, and its attachment to man " (Steevens). "Itappears,"
adds Malone, "that certain hawks were considered as appro-
priated to certain ranks. The tercel-gentle was appropriated to
the prince, and thence was chosen by Juliet as an appellation for
her beloved Romeo."

161. Bondage .aloud, one fettprpri constrained by fear of
being overheard, like me, is as much unable to call aloud as one
whose voice is stopped by hoarseness of the throat.

162. Else ... lies, otherM-ise by my loud cries I would rend the
cave in which Echo dwells ; Echo, an Oread m ho by Juno was
changed into a being neither able to speak until somebody had
spoken, nor to be silent when anybody had spoken.

163. And make ... mine, and, by compelling her to repeat my
cries, make her lioarser than myself even. Dyce compares Comus,
208, "And airy tongues that syllable men's names On sands and
shores and desert wildernesses."

_ 166. sUver-sweet, in allusion to the sweet tone of bells made of
silver.

167. attending, attentive.

173. to have ... there, in order to keep you standing there.

175. to have ... forget, so that you may continue to forget.

SCENE II.] NOTES. 141

176. Forgetting ... this, forgetting that I have any home but
this, forgetting that this is not really my home.

178. a wanton's bird, the pet bird of a mischievous girl, a girl
that loves to teaze her pets.

180. gyves, chains, fetters.

182. So loving- jealous . . . liberty, so fond of it and yet so jealous
of its getting its liberty.

186. shall say good night, shall contimie saying 'good night.'

188. so sweet to rest, having so sweet a resting place.

189. ghostly father, spiritual father ; father, a title given to
catholic priests.

190. my dear hap, the good fortune .that has befallen me ; hap,
fortune, chance, accident, from which we get to ' happen ' and
' happy. '

Scene III.

1 . grey-eyed, of a pale blue not yet tinted with the coloured
rays of the sun.

2. Chequering, interlacing, variegating ; a ' chequer ' was
originally a chess-board, a board divided into squares coloured
alternately dark and light, then, among various other senses, an
alternation of colours. Cp. .If. A. v. 3. 27, "the gentle day,
Before the wheels of Phoebus, round about, Dapples the drowsy
east with spots of grey ; " where " grey " is used as in 1. 1, above.

3. flecked, spotted, streaked.

4. From forth ... wheels, out of the path about to be taken by
the sun's bright wheels : Titan, the original Titans dwelt in
heaven, from which, after a contest, they were liurled by Zeus
beneath Tartarus ; among their descendants were Helios (tlie sun)
and Selene (the moon) ; the fiery wheels are those of the chariot
which Helios drove round the world each twenty-four hours.

6. dank, moist, damp; according to Skeat, probably a nasalized
form of the provincial English dag, dew.

7. osier cage, basket made of withes ; the osier is the water- _
iKJllow : of ours, belonging to our monastery.

8. baleful, poisonous, harmful, i.e. if not properly used, but
containing valuable medicinal properties.

9. 10. The earth... womb, that is the mother of all nature, is
also the tomb of all nature ; and, conversely, that in which all
things are buried, is that from which all things spring.

11. from her womb, sprung from her.

12. We sucking... find, we find drawing their nourishment
from the bosom of their natural mother.

142 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

13. virtues, useful properties.

15. mickle ... grace, abundant and mighty is the excellence;
mickle, like much, from the A.S. myccd, great, and connected
with Gk. fj.«'y°'^*>S-

16. stones, minerals : their true qualities, their properties when
turned to their right use.

19, 20. Nor aught ... abuse, nor anything so good that, if
diverted from its proper use, does not forswear its original nature
and, by the accident of being thus diverted, become harmful ; in
stumbling the meaning is that its original tendency was good,
but that something coming in its way caused it to stagger from
its path.

22. And vice . . . dignified, and vice sometimes a worthiness by
the way in which it works, by the good result it effects, though
its intention was evil.

23. infant, as yet undeveloped : for small, the reading of the
first quarto, the other copies give weal-, which Daniel prefers as
marking the contrast with power in the next line.

24. medicine power, medicinal power.

25. 6. For this, ...heart, for this, if smelt, by the property of
its odour cheers the frame througlT'every part, whereas, if
tasted, it destroys the lieart and with it ail the sensgs^ It seems
better, witlTDelius, to take that part to mean 'the odour,' than
with Malone, to understand it as ' the part that smells, the
olfactory nerves.' For slays, the second quarto gives the tempt-
ing reading stayi, i.e. brings to a standstill, which Mommsen
adopts ; in H. V. ii. 1. 92, 3, we have the expression " The King
has killed his hearf,^' but there it is a metaphor and is put into
the mouth of the Hostess.

27. encamp them still, ever pitch their camp. \

28. rude will, brutal obstinacy, perverseness.

30. the canker, the worm that preys upon blossoms ; Lat.
cancer, a crab. Hunter remarks, " The beaiitiful lines given to
the Friar are introduced for the sake of repose ; but in the choice
of tlie topic in tliese seven [eight] lines \i.e. 11. 23-30] the Poet
seems to have had a further view. Poison is hereafter to become
a main agent in the piece, and the Poet prepares the audience
for the use of poison by familiarizing them, in the early portion
of the play, with the idea, and thus preparing them to witness
the use of it without being so much shocked as they would be
were no such preparation made. "

31. Benedicite, an ecclesiastical salutation at meeting or part-
ing ; literally ' bless, praise,' sc. God.

32. What early . . . me ? what voice so early greets me so
pleasantly ?

SCKNE III.] NOTES, 143

34. to bid good morrow to, i.e. to leave ; literally to salute
with the words ' good morning,' i.e. with words used after one has
risen.

35. keeps his watch, is ever wakeful, ever present and on the
alert.

37. unhruised youth, youth that has not yet known the
wounds of time and trouble : unstuff'd brain, brain free from
anxieties.

38. golden sleep, calm and invigorating sleep.

40. dlstemperature, uneasiness of mind, mental disorder ; op.
Per. V. 1. 27, " Upon what ground is his distemjxrature ?"
43. the sweeter . . . mine, all the sweeter was the rest I enjoyed.

^6. that name's woe, the sorrow that name used to cause me,
sc. by Rosaline's unkindness to his suit.

47. That's my good son, well done, my son ; I am glad to hear
that, my son ; an exclamation of approval very common in Shake-
speare, e.g. Temp. i. 2. 215, "Why, that's my spirit!" Co7: v.
3. 76, " That's my brave boy."

51, 2. both our ... lies, the I'emedy for the disease of both of us
lies in your liands ; lies, a confusion of proximity due to the
singular nouns help and physic coming between the nominative
and the verb ; and perhaps in part, as Delius says, because
both our remedies is in reality a singular — the remedy of
both of us.

53. no hatred, i.e. towards her whom I have called "mine
enemy."

54. My intercession ... foe, the intercession I make with you
on my own behalf is one which will benefit my foe also.

56. Riddling . . . shrift, if your confession is made in riddles, the
absolution you will receive from me will be equally ambiguous ;
for shrift, see note on i. 1. 165, above.

60. And all combined, and the union between us is complete.

63. as we pass, as we walk along.

65. Saint Francis, the patron saint of his Order, the Franciscan.

69. Jesu Maria, 0 Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary ; Jesu, the
vocative case.

69, 70. what a deal . . . Rosaline, what floods of salt tears have
coursed down your cheeks on Rosaline's account, and made them
pale ; sallow, used proleptically.

72. To season ... taste, to give freshness and relish to that love
which now no longer has any taste of such seasoning, Avhich now
has lost all relish to your palate ; cp. T. N. i. 1. .30, "she will
veiled walk And water once a day her chamber round With eye-

144 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

offending brine ; all this to season A brother's dead love, which
she would keep fresh And lasting in her sad remembrance."
Daniel conjectures ' that of itself doth taste.'

73. The sun . . . clears, the siin has not yet cleared away the
vapours caused by your thick sighs for Rosaline ; cp. Romeo's
words above, i. 1. 188, "Love is a smoke raised with the fume
of sighs."

77, 8. If e'er ... Rosaline, if ever you were really yourself, not
a counterfeit, and if these woesyou pretendedjo^^^^ were
genuine, then they and yoiTalike^belonged to Rosaline and no
one else.

80. Women ... men, when men show themselves such weak
creatures, there is nothing wonderful in women being frail.

82. doting, loving to excess, foolishly.

83, 4. Not in a grave ... have, I did not bid you bury love in a
grave only in order that as soon as you had buried one you should
exhume another.

86. Doth grace ... allow, meets kindness with kindness, love
with love.

87, 8. she knew . . . spell, her refusal to give love in return was
only because she knew that your love was but a parrot-like
acquaintance with such love.

90. In one respect, in consideration of one point.

92. To turn, as to turn.

93. I stand ... haste, it is imperative upon me to make great
haste, I depend, for success, upon losing no time ; see Abb. § 204.

94. Wisely ... fast, an adaptation of the Latin saying, Festina
lente.

Scene IV.

I. Where ... should ... be? where can this troublesome fellow,
Romeo, possibly have got to ?

3. man, servant.

4. pale, a depreciatory epithet, as Capulet below, iii. 5. 158,
calls Juliet "tallow-face."

II, 2. Nay, he will answer ... dared, nay, he will not merely
answer the letter in writing, but will answer its writer in person,
and show him what he dares do being challenged ; for answer, =
meet in combat, cp. A. C. iii. 13. 27, "And answer me declined,
sword against sword." For the play on the two senses cf dare,
Delius compares ii. H. VI. iii. 2. 203, " What rfarps not Warwick,
if false Suffolk dare him ? "

13. he is already dead, i.e. and therefore there is no need for
Tybalt to challenge him.

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 145

15. pin, centre ; literally the wooden peg by which the target
was fastened to the mai-k at archery practice.

16. butt-shaft, arrow used in shooting at the butts ; a butt was
properly a mound or ei-ection on which the target was set up,
0. F. but, a goal : a man, the proper sort of person, seeing what
his condition is.

17. Why, what is Tybalt? why, what is there about Tybalt
that is so terrible ?

18. prince of cats. " Tybert is the name given to the cat in
Reynard the Fox" (Warburton) ; and that name, or Tibalt, is in
old writers frequently used of cats.

18, 9. he 's the courageous . . . compliments, he is at the head of
the troop of valiant formalists, men versed in all the nicest forms
of ceremony.

19, 20. as you sing prick- song, with the minutest attention to
every detail; prick-song, " harmony pricked or noted down, in
opposition to plain-song, where the descant rested with the will
of the singer " (Chappell's Popular Music of the Olden Time, etc.,
quoted by Dyce).

20, 1 . rests me . . . bosom, poises his weapon during the time
that a musician could count one, two, and by the time that he
could count three, has it right through you ; a rest is a pause in
musical time, and a minim, formerly spelt minum, was once the
shortest note, from Lat. minimum, the least. For one, two, cp.
Temp. iv. 1. 44, 5, " Before you can say ' come ' and ' go,' And
breathe twice and cry ' so, so. '

21, 2. the very ... button, one who in fencing can hit a button
with as much certainty as a butcher can stick a pig. Staunton
quotes Silver's Paradoxes of Defence, 1599, " thou that takest
upon thee to hit anie Englishman with a thrust upon anie
button."

22, 3. a gentleman ... cause, " a gentleman of the first rank, of
the first eminence among these duelfists, and one who understands
the whole science of quarrelling, and will tell you of W\e first cause
and the second cause for which a man is to fight" (Steevens).
These causes are wittily ridiculed in A. Y. L. v. 4. 51, et seqq.

24. the immortal . . . reverse. "The passado, more properly pas-

Safa, TiT^Tif a gfpp fnvwn.rd nr nsjdp in fpncinfr ... The puntO reVCVSO

was also an Italian term, moaning a bap.k-lmuilfd slroke " (Staun-
ton) : the hai. " The hay is the [Italian] word h^^yo\iJiaj:£^,
used when a thrust reaches the antagonist " (Johnson).

26. fantasticoes, fantastic fellows with their duelling jargon.

27. these new tuners of accents, these fellows who are ever in-
troducing new terms : a very good blade ! a fine fencer ! the
weapon being put for the wielder of it.

K

146 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act n.

28. tall, lusty, spirited ; in this sense a term generally used
by Shakespeare either with irony, or as a piece of bragging, or
put into the mouth of mean persons ; cp. the phrase " a tall man
of his hands," M. W. i. 4. 26 ; " a tall fellow of thy hands," W. T.
V. 2. 177.

29. grandsire, my staid, sober friend.

29, 30. these strange flies, this new kind of Ijuzziug-ittseetis,
these fellows who are here, there, and everywhere with their in-
cessant chatter ; cp. Haml. v. 2. 84 : fajhioiuiioage-rs, fellows
who are for ev^r inventing some new fashion oi- othei- : these par-
donnez-moys, these fellows witli their everlasting affectation of
courtesy ; these fellows who ever have on their lips the phrase
pardonnez moy, excuse me.

31. Stand ... form, are so punctilious in observing the new
formalities ; with a pun on form in the sense of a long wooden
seat.

32. Oh, their bons, their toons ! oh, how sick I am of their
eternal exclamation of bon ! i. e. good. The old copies give ' their
hones, their hones,' and though Theobald's correction is almost
certainly right, there is probably a pun on bo7ies in allusion to
the former sentence.

34. Without his roe. " That is, he comes but half hiuis&lf-. he
is only a sigh — 0 me! i.e. me O ! the half of his name " (Seymour) :
like a dried herring, from which, before it was dried, tlie roe had
been taken out to be preserved separately.

35. fishified, made like a fish: Now . . . numtoers, now is he
given up to such love-songs.

36. Laura, Petrarch's mistress, to whom so much of his poetry
is addressed : to, compared with.

37. marry, ... her, by the holy Virgin, she was more fortunate
than Rosaline in the poet who celebrated her perfections.

38. a dowdy, a mere slattern : a gipsy, a sun-burnt vagabond ;
from M. E. Egypcien, an Egyptian, the gipsies, though really of
Indian origin, being formerly supposed to have come from Egypt.
Cleopatra, though by birth an Egyptian, was by descent Greek.
hildings, menial wretches. ^'Hiiding is short for hilderling
and hilderling stands for M. E. hinderling, base, degenerate"...
(Skeat, Ety. Dirt.).

39. a grey eye . . . purpose, a lady whose grey eyes were fairly
good, but nothing to l^e compared with those of Rosaline.

41. slop, baggy trousers ; more commonly in the plural, as in
M. A. iii. 2. 36, "a German from the waist downward, all
slops"; ii. N. IV. i. 2. 34, " \Yliat said Master Dombledon
about the satin for my short cloak and my slops?"

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 147

44. The slip . . . conceive, why, the slip ; are you so dull that
you cannot see my little joke ? sHps were pieces of counterfeit
money, brass covered over with silver, and to ' give one the slip '
is to play one the trick of stealing away iinnoticed.

45. great, important.

46. may strain courtesy, may be forgiven if he does not stand
upon ceremony.

48. to bow in the hams, to be particularly polite ; to bow low
in respect to the knee, to curtsy, as Romeo interprets the phrase,
not to treat us as you did.

50. Thou hast ... it, " your reply was of a piece with my,
speech " (Grant White) ; but though kindly is primarily used as
^oTtTie same kind, or sort, the way in Avhich "courtesy" and
" courteous " are insisted upon shows that there is a play upon
the other sense of the word.

53. Pink for flower, by pink you mean flower ; you are using
the species for the genus.

55. then is ... flowered, then is my court-shoe well flowered,
ornamented, for it is pinked (i.e. punched with holes in patterns)
abundantly. This ' piiilcmg ' is still to be seen__in_ladie£shoesj_
pump, so called because worn for pomp ; from F. pompe, pomp,
state, show.

56. follow me this jest, cap this jest for me by another, and
another, till, etc.

57. the single sole of it, pumps are made with thin, or single,
soles to give lightness in dancing.

57, 8. that, when ... singular, that, when its thin sole is worn
out, there may remain nothing but the Imre feet. Mercutio s
jest is something like the phantom grin of the Cheshire cat in
Alice in Wonderland, and to try to embody his wit as the
weaving of coarse canvas out of the spider's web.

59. 0 single-soled ... singleness ! 0 threadbaxa_ieet unique
only in being so silly ! Singer has shown that single-soled or
' single-souled ' was often used for 'simple,' 'silly,' and some-
times meant ' threadbare.' He quotes from Cotgrave, " Monsieur
de trois au boissean et de trois a un ep4e : a threadbare, coarse-
spun, single-soled gentleman."

60. my wits faint. This, the reading of the later quartos and
the first folio, seems better than that of the first quarto more
generally adopted, "my Avits fail."

61,2. Switch ... match, give me whip and spurs, whip and
spurs ; for I'll cry ' Done with you ! ' I'll make a niatcli with
you, enter myself for a race against you. I have adopted
Capell's for in place of 'or,' the reading of tlie old copies, since
an alternative seems to make nonsense of the passage.

148 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

63. the wild-goose chase. " A kind of horse race which re-
sembled the flight of wild geese [which fly in a long stream,
marshalled by one of the older birds]. Two horses started
together ; and whichever rider could get the lead, the other was
obliged to follow him over whatever ground the foremost jockey
chose to go. That horse which could distance the other won
the race"... (Holt White). The references to this kind of
' steeple-chase ' are frequent in the old dramatists.

65, 6. was I . . . {joose ? did I touch you there in my reference
to the goose ? did you feel that the cap fitted you when I men-
tioned the word goose ? The expression, ' to be here, or there,
with ' a person seems to have been especially used of contemptuous
exclamations, gestures, etc. ; thus in W. T. i. 2. 217, "They Ve
here rvith me already, whispering, rounding ' Silicia is a so-forth.'"
In Cor. iii. 2. 73, "here be with them " means ' here salute them
with a courteous wave of the bonnet. '

67, 8. Thou wast ... goose, you were never with me for any
purpose except that of playing the part of a goose ; the words
with me being taken in their literal sense.

69. I will bite thee by the ear. " This odd mode of expressing
pleasure, which seems to be taken from the practice of animals,
who, in a playful mood, bite each other's ears, etc., is very
common in our old dramatists " (Giffbrd on Jonson's Every Man
out of his Humoiir, v. 4). Cp. e.g. Chapman, Byron's Tragedy,
V. 1, "let me draw Poison into me with this cursed air. If he be-
witched me and transformed me not ; He hit me hy the ear and
made me drink Enchanted waters. "

70. bite not, according to Steevens a proverbial saying.

71. sweeting, an apple of that name, remarkable for its sweet-
ness, which is still grown about Stratford. Often used as a term
of endearment, as in 0th. ii. 3. 252, T. N. ii. 3. 43

73. And is it not . . . goose. An allusion to the apple sauce usual
with roast goose.

74. cheveril, kid leather, i.e. something very pliaiit,_capaM£-of
beiftg-siratcbed ; 0. F. chevreJe, kid, diminutive of chevre, from
capra, a she-goat. Cp. H. VIII. ii. 3. 32, "which gifts ... the
capacity Of your soft cheveril conscience would receive, If you
might please to stretch it."

76. for that word 'broad,' for the sake of bringing in that
word 'broad.' "What Romeo means," says Collier, "is that
Mercutio has proved himself ' far and wide abroad ' a goose " ;
possibly as Singer suggests Eomeo is playing on the term ' hrood-
goose,' i.e. a brooding-goose, which we have in Beaumont and
Fletcher's Humorous Lieutenavt, iii. 1. 54, "They have no more
burden than a brood-goose, brother."

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 149

80. by art ... nature, not merely your natural self, but youi'self
improved by art, i.e. by the cultixation of your natural wit.

81. a great natural, a loutish idiot; one born a fool; op.
A. Y. L. i. 2. 52, "when Fortune makes Nature's natural the
cutter-off of Nature's wit," referring to the professional Fool,
Touchstone; also 1. 57, "hath sent this natural for our whet-
stone."

82. bautole, the Fool's sceptre, a short stick ornamented at the
top with ■ a fool's head, or a doll ; or sometimes an inflated
bladder with which the Fool belaboured those who ofiiended him.

84. against the hair, against the grain, with a pun on the word
tale (tail) ; T. C. i. 2. 27, "he is melancholy without cavise, and
merry against the hair" ; M. W. ii. 3. 4l, "if you should fight,
you go against the hair of your professions."

88. to occupy the argument, to take part in the discussion ; to
occupy, a cant term; see ii. H. IV. ii. 4. IGI, "these villains
will make the word as odious as the word ' occivpy' ; which was
an excellent good word before it was ill sorted. "

89. Here 's goodly gear ! here's a pretty business ! said as he
sees the Nurse af)proaching ; but also with a play on the word
gear in the sense of ' dress,' here's a fine object ! Cp. L. L. L.
V. 2. 303, "Disguised like Muscovites, Ln shapeless gear." The
original sense of the word is 'preparation,' hence 'dress,' 'har-
ness,' ' tackle.'

90. A sail, a sail ! the exclamation of the watch at sea when a
strange vessel is seen approaching. Cp. Samson's sarcastic
exclamation as he sees Dalila approaching in all her finery,
Samson Agonistes, 710, et seqq., "But who is this, what thing of
sea or land ? Female of sex it seems. That, so bedecked, ornate,
and gay. Comes this way, sailing Like a stately ship Of Tarsus,
bound for the isles of Javan or Gadire, With all her bravery on,
and tackle trim, Sails filled, and streamers waving," etc.

91. a shirt and a smock, a man and a woman; the under-
garment of each being used for the persons.

93. Anon ! here ! present.

94. My fan. The commentators point out that the fans of those
days were very large and might well require a man to carry them.

95. Good Peter, . . . face, do, good Peter, give it to her, etc.
97. God ye ... gentlemen, see note on i. 2. 57.

99. Is it good den ? is it so late as that ? is it past noon, that
one ought to say ' good even '?

105. I am the youngest ... worse, I am that ' young Romeo

150 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

you seek, the youngest in fact of those who bear that name, in
the absence of any less worthy of it. Romeo jestingly alters the
ordinary form of excuse, ' for fault of a better.'

107. is the worst ■well? does this ' worst,' as Romeo by infer-
ence calls himself, satisfy you ? took, understood.

109. confidence, conference ; as in M. A. iii. 5. 3, " Marry, sir,
I would havs some confidence with you that decerns you nearly "
(Dogberry's speech) ; and again M. W. i. 4. 172.

110. indite, invite; which the first quarto reads, thougli the
word is doubtless Benvolio's mocking imitation of the Nurse's
" confidence."

11.3, 4. lady, lady, lady, the burden of the Ballad of Susanna,
of which Staunton quotes a stanza from Percy's Bcliques.

116. merchant, formerly used in a contemptuous sense, like the
modern ' huckster ' : ropery, possibly only the Nurse's mistake
for ' roguery,' though the word was commonly used for roguery,
mischief, with an allusion to the hangman's rope ; so also ' rope-
tricks,' ' rope -ripe,' 'roper.'

118. stand to, maintain.

120. a', he ; in Old English ha and a are sometimes found = he,
she, it, they ; a' is common in the old dramatists, and we even
find 'am for theni, e.g. Middleton, The PItoenix, ii. 2, " Should
still afli'ect 'am. "

120, 1. I '11 take him down, I '11 make him pay for it : an a' . . . is,

and woidd do *o even if it weie, etc. : Jacks, saucy fellows ; so
"a Jack-sauce," //. V. iv. 7. 148. Skeat quotes Tyrwhitt on
Chaucer's ' Sir John ': " I know not how it has happened that in
the principal modern languages, John, or its equivalent, is a name
of contempt, or at least of slight. So the Italians use LHanni,
from whence Zani ; the Spaniards Juan, as hobo Jiiai), a foolish
John ; the French Jea?i, with various additions ; and in English,
when we call a man a John, we do not mean it as a title of
honour . . . . "

122. Scurvy, literally afflicted with scurf, hence mean, vile.

123. flirt-gills. " An arbitrary transposition of the compound
word (jill-Jiirt, that is a.jlirting-gill, a woman of light behaviour ...
Gill was a current and familiar term for a female"... (Nares) :
skains-mates. ' ' The word skain, I am told by a Kentishman, was
formerly a familiar term in paits of Kent to express what we now
call a scape-grace, or ne'er-do-well .... Even at this day, my in-
formant saj's, sJcain is often heard in the Isle of Thanet, and
about the adjacent coast, in the sense of recJclisff, dare-devil sort
of fellow" (Staunton). Others derive the word from skean, a
sword, and 7nate, companion, i.e. brothers of the sword, royster-
ing companions, with which Schmidt compares the G. f<piesgeselh.

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 151

124, 5. And thou ... pleasure, and you could stand there could
you, and allow me to be insulted as any scoundrel chose ! shame
on you for your cowardice !

133. what she hade ... myself. Distrusting Romeo's attendant,
the Nurse comes to the conclusion that she cannot better perform
her errand than by keeping back the very ojjject of that errand.

1.34. a fool's paradise, a state of fallacious happiness. Milton,
P. L. iii. 495, has a "Paradise of Fools" which he makes
identical with the Limbo to which he consigns all popish observ-
ances, insignia, and their wearers.

138. weak dealing. ' Wicked ' has been suggested for weak, but
the point seems to lie, as Clarke observes, in tiie Nurse's intend-
ing to Tise a most forcible expression", and blundering upon a
most feeble one. Fleay, cqnid Daniel, suggests that, if any
change is needed, the old word ivicke, still in use in the midland
counties in the sense otfoid, loicked, should be adopted.

139. commend me, give my best compliments ; literally recom-
mend me to her favour (by bearing my loving greetings).

141. Good heart, rny good fellow ; a form of familiar address,
like ' poor heart,' ' old heart,' ' noble heart.'

152. Go to, nonsense, you must.

156. a tackled stair, a rope ladder ; like the ratlines or ratlins
of a \'essel, the small transverse ropes across the shrouds forming
a ladder.

157, 8. which to the high ... secret, by which I must in the
darkness of night convoy myself to the summit, pinnacle,__Qf my —

happiness ; the ' top-gallant_sail-' iu a ^^ssei is tlie^iailjibpye the

top^aail, and the nautical figure in top-gallant and convoy is
suggested to Romeo's mind by the " tackled stair."

159. quit, requite ; as very frequently in Shakespeare, both in
a good and a bad sense.

164. Two may keep ... away, two may keep a secret, if one is
away.

168, 9. that would ... aboard, that would be only too glad to
* get a cut at her,' to make her his own : lieve, gladly ; lieve, or
lief, like "fain" in the previous line, is properly an adjective
meaning dear, pleasing.

170. sometimes. " But a few hours have in fact elapsed since
last night's interview Ijetween the lovers, yet the dramatic eilect
of a longer period is thus given to the interval by the introduc-
tion of the single word ' sometimes ' " (Clarke) : and teU her, by
telling her : preparer, handsomer ; proper, Lat. proprius, one's
own, then what becomes a man, and so handsome.

172. verbal, universal.

152 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

173. Doth. All instance of the singulai- inflection preceding a
plural subject : a letter, one and the same letter : rosemary, in
Haml. ii. 5. 175, Ophelia says, " There 's rosemarii, that 's for re-
membrance," to which adage Juliet in her " prettiest sententious
of it " was probably referring ; the word has nothing to do with
either the flower or with the name Mary, being from the Lat.
ros marinus, dew of the sea, i.e. the plant that delights in the
spray of the sea

1 75. that 's the dog's name. From its resemblance to the snarling
of a dog, the letter R was by the Romans called ' the dog's letter,'
and Jonson in his English grammar says " R is (he dorfu letter,
and hurreth in the sound." The Nurse having heard the adage,
substitutes name for letter.

175, 6. R is for the— No ; ...letter, R is for the dog, she was
going to say, but breaks off and continues, I know your name
does not begin with such an ugly sound. The old copies give
" R is for the no," which Tyrwhitt emended " R is for the dog,
No" ; the reading in the text is Ritson's conjecture.

176, 7. she hath ... of it, she frames tlie prettiest sentences or
sentiments about it.

182. apace, quickly; "at an earlier period the word was
written as two words, a jms, as in Chaucer.... It is also to be
remarked that the phrase has widely changed its meanmg. In
Chaucer ... it means ' a foot-pace, ' and was originally used of
horses when proceeding slowly, or at a walk. The phrase is com-
posed of the Eng. indef. article a, and the M. K j^as, Mod. E.
pace, a word of F. origin " (Skeat, Ety. Diet. ).

Scene V.

3. that 's not so, it is impossible that that should be the case.

4. 0, she is lame, not literally, but in comparison with what a
messenger of \ovg should be.

6. Driving ... hills. It is perhaps doubtful whether this means
' when tliey drive back shadows beyond frowning hills and so
cause them to disappear '; or ' when they drive back shadows
that rest upon the frowning hills ' ; lour is" said to be connected
with leer, M. E. lere, A.S. hle6r, the cheek, hence the face, look.

7. doves, sacred to Venus; cp. M. N. D. i. 1. 171, "By the
simplicity of Venus' doves"; M. V. ii. 6. 5, " 0, ten times faster

Venus'" 2jigeons fly To seal love's bonds new-made"; also V. A.
1189-92.

8. wind-swift, swift as the wind ; cp. T. C. iv. 2. 14, " wings
more .momentary -swift than thought."

9. 10. upon the highmost ... journey, at its zenith ; journey, is

in itself literally a day's travel. ♦

SCENE v.] NOTES. 153

12. affections, passions ; the warm feelings which youth and
love inspire.

14. bandy. A metaphor very common in Shakespeare and the
old dramatists from the game of tennis in which the ball is banded
or bandied, i.e. struck forwards and backwards, from each end of
the court ; the origin of the word is obscure : love, the concrete,
lover, while in the next line the word is used in the abstract.

16. But old ... dead, but old folks, like mj^ Nurse, do many of
them behave as if thej' had no life at all in their limbs. The
reading of the old copies is fain ovfaine ; feign is Johnson's con-
jecture. After old foUis there is a slight aposiopesis, Juliet
qualifying her statement by the word many, and there seems
no difficulty in feign ... dead in the sense of 'pretend they
have no life, no strength in them for the duty they have to do.'
Dyce conjectured that the ' copy ' of the printer of the second
quarto had more yfaith and was corrupted by him into many
fain.

17. pale as lead. Here it is objected that lead is not pale,
and dull has been suggested in its place ; but lead in its original
state is of an ashy colour, and the epithet pale is applied to it by
Chaucer.

18. honey, sweet, darling ; also used as a substantive in this
sense, 0th. ii. 1. 206.

22. news, frequently used by Shakespeare as a plural noun,
like the F. nouvelles, of which it is a translation ; so Lat. nova,
new things, i.e. news.

24. By playing . . . face, by giving voice to it with the accom-
paniment of so sour a face.

25. a-weary. The a- represents a corruption of the A.S. inten-
sive of, thoroughly, as in 'afeard,' 'a?i-huugered,' etc. : give me
leave, excuse me.

26. what a jaunce . . . had ! what a hunt I have had to find him !
cp. below 1. 53, and /.'. //. ^■. 5. 94, " Spurr'd, gall'd and tired by
jauncincj (i.e. hard ridhig) Bolingbroke. " The word is from the
F. jancer ; Cotgrave gives " Jancer un cheral. To stir an horse
in the stables till he sweat withal"; connected with our jazuit.

.34. Is longer . . . excuse, takes longer to teU than the tale would
which you make excuses for not telling.

36. I '11 stay the circumstance, I will wait for the details.

.38. you have made ... choice, this is a pretty choice you have
made in choosing Romeo for a husband ; simple, foolish.

39. no, not he, he's not the sort of man you ought to have
chosen.

39, 40. though his face ... mens. The Nurse pretending or in-

154 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii.

tending to qualify her complimentary estimate by some detrac-
tion, only intensifies her praise.

41, 2. not to be talked on, not worth /peaking about ; on for
of, as frequently in colloquial language : compare, comparison ;
frequent in Shakespeare as a substantive.

43. flower of courtesy, as in ii. 4. 56 we had ' ' pink of courtesy. "

44. Go thy ways, here ways is not the plural, but the old
genitive used adverbially, on your way.

44, 5. have you . . . home ? is dinner o\er ?

48. what a head, i.t. aching head.

50. My back ... side, perhaps means ' and my back, too, how it
aches ! '

51. Beshrew, a mild form of imprecation, to shrew meaning to
' curse. '

52. jaunting, see above, 1. 26.

59. Where should she be ? where else do you expect her to be?

61. 0 God"s lady dear, 0, by the blessed Virgin !

62. so hot, so eager, so impatient ; marry, come up, a vulgar
phrase of reproof or impatience: I trow, literally 'I trust,'
' believe,' but often used to express surprise or indignation.

63. Is this . . . bones ? Is this how you reward me for all my
trouble ?

65. Here 's such a ceil ! what a fuss you make of the matter !
coil is frequently used by .Shakespeare in the sense of bustle, stir,
turmoil. " Like nmny half-slang words," says Skeat, "it is
Celtic. Gaelic goil, boiling, fume, battle, rage, fury"... .

68. hie you, hasten.

71. They '11 be ... news, you have such a guilty conscience (sc.
as to having given your love to Romeo) that anything is enough
to call up a blush into your cheek.

75. in your delight, in order that you may reap the benefit,
that you may enjoy happiness, while I profit nothing by my pains.

Scene VI.

1. So smile the heavens, may the heavens so smile ! may
Providence so approve of this marriage that, etc.

4, 5. It cannot . . . sight, it cannot outweigh the joy that the
sight of her for one short minute gi\'es me, even though I have
to endure the bitterest sorrow the next minute ; the exchange of
joy does not mean the exchange from some past sorrow, but the
enjoyment of happiness in the pi'esent, which may have to be ex-
changed for sorrow hereafter^

SCENE VI,] NOTES. 155

6. close, unite.

7. dare, subjunctive, may dare.

8. It is enough ... mine, it is enough for me to have once called
her mine. Cp. Dry den, transl. of Horace, Odes, i. 29, "Not
Heaven itself upon the past lias power. But what has been, has
been, and I have had my hour."

9. These violent . . ends. Walker points out that violent is used
in the first instance as a trisyllable and in the second as a
dissyllable.

10. And in... die, and perish when at their summit of enjoy-
ment. Malone compares Lucr. 894, " Thy violent vanities can
never last. "

11. kiss, meet, as thoiigh they were friends.

12. Is loathsome ... deliciousness, cloys the taste from the very
fact of being so luscious.

13. confounds, renders it incapable of proper appreciation.

14. long love, enduring, lasting, love.

15. Too swift .. slow. Another version of the proverb "The
more haste, the less speed."

16. 7. so light . . . flint. The corresponding line in the first quarto
is "So light a foot ne^er hurts the trodden flower," of which, as
Grant White remarks, the words in the text do not seem an im-
provement ; everlasting, of course not in its strict sense.

18. gossamer, " fine spider-threads seen in fine weather. .. . Of
disputed origin : Init M. E. gossomer is literally (joose- summer,
and the provincial E. (C"ra^•en) name for gossamer is summer-
goose .. The word is probably nothing but a corruption of ' goose-
summer ' or ' summer-goose,' from the downy appearance" of the
film"... (Skeat, Ety. Diet.).

20. vanity, the unsubstantial delight felt by lovers.

22. shall thank you, shall requite you for your kind salutation ;
I will leave Romeo to acknowledge your greeting.

23. As much ... much, ' nay,' says Juliet, ' I must greet him as
well as you, for if, without my doing so, he gives thanks for both
of you, his thanks will be more than I desire.'

24. measure, apparently used in a double sense, (1) great quan-
tity, (2) the vessel containing the quantity.

25. Be heap'd, be filled to the brim ; cp. Lxike, vi. 38, "Give,
and it shall be given unto you ; good measure, pressed down, and
shaken together, and runnmg over, shall men give into your
bosom."

26. To blazon it, to depict it in worthy colours ; to blazon is
" to pourtiay armorial bearings ... — F. blazon, ' a coat of arms ;

156 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ii. sc. vi.

in the 11th century a buckler, a shield ; then a shield with a
£oat of arms of a knight painted on it ; lastly, towards the
fifteenth century, the coats of arms themselves'; Brachet"...
(Skeat, Ety. Dirt.).

27. neighbour, neighbouring; cp. R. II. i. 1. 119, "Such
neighbour nearness to our sacred blood " : rich music's tongue,
identifying Juliet's voice with music.

28. the imagined happiness, the happiness wrapped up in the
soul.

29. in either, each in the other.

30. Conceit, conception ; literally that which is conceived ;
used in Shakespeare for idea, fanciful thought, mental faculty, etc.

.31. Brags ..ornament, is proud of the reality and does not
care to set forth its possession by mere ornament, does not value
any such display as you would have me make in words.

32. They are taut ... worth. Cp. M. A. ii. 1. 318, " I were but
little happy, if I could say how much " ; A. G. i. 1. 15, " There 's
beggary in the love that can be reckoned."

34. I cannot ... wealth. The "reading in the text, that of the
second and third quartos, seems intelligil^le enougli, and means
' I cannot sum up the total of half my wealth ' ; but Capell altered
it to "I cannot sum up half my sum of wealth," which most
modern editors follow.

35. make short work, finish the business off quickly.

37. incorporate two in one. Cp. Matthew, xix. 5, " For this
cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to
his wife ; aiid they twain shall he one flesh."

Act III. Scene I.

2. abroad, out in the town.

4. For now, ... stirring, for in these hot days men's passion
bursts out into fury. According to Johnson, it is observed that
in Italy almost all assassinations take place in the summer.

6. claps me, see Abb. § 220.

7, 8. by the operation . . . cup, by the time his second draught
has begun to work upon him : the drawer, the waiter who draws
the wine from the casks.

11. a Jack, see note on ii. 4. 121.

12, 3. and as soon ... be moved, and as soon provoked to be ill-
tempered, and as soon in the mood to be provoked.

15. two such, Mercutio pretends to take Benvolio's ' what to '
for ' which two. '

«

ACT III. sc. I.] NOTES.

157

20. hazel eyes, eyes of the colour of the hazel-nut, light brown.

22. beaten as addle, beaten till it becomes as addled • addle
more properly addled, is literally diseased, from A.S. ddl, disease!
but used of an egg when it will not hatch.

30. the fee-simple, the most absolute property ; an estate in
fee-simple is the greatest estate or interest which the law of
England allows any person to possess in landed property , cp.
A. W. iv. 3. 312, " Sir, for a quart d'ecu he will sell the fee-simnle
of his salvation, the inheritance of it."

32. 0 simple ! 0 foolish fellow.

37. And but one ... us ? and is that all you want with us ?

38. make it . . . blow, couple the ' word ' with a ' blow ' ; a
reference to the phrase "a word and a blow," i.e. readiness' to
follow up an angry word by a blow.

41. Could you not ... giving ? could you not find occasion for a
quarrel without waiting for some provocation ?

42. consort'st with, are a friend, companion of.

43. Consort, an old term for a company of musicians ; cp. T. O.
iii. 2. 84, "Visit by night your lady's chamber- window With
some sweet consort."

45. my fiddlestick, i.e. his sword with which he will play a
tune on them that will make them dance to get out of its way.
Cp. Faulconbridge's scornful use of " toasting-fork" for " sword."
K. J. iv. 3. 99.

46. 'Zounds, a corruption of "God's wounds," i.e. the wounds
of Christ when crucified, often spelt 'sounds; so 'sNood for
" God's blood," 'sbody for " God's body," etc.

49. And reason . . . grievances, and discuss in temperate language
the matter in dispute, the cause of complaint you have against
each other. The old copies give ' ' 0>- reason, " the word being
probably caught from the line below ; and is Capell's emendation.

50. depart, part, separate ; cp. Cymb. i. 1. 108, " The loath-
ness to depart would grow."

52. budge, stir a step ; F. bouger, to stir ; for the emphatic
double negative, see Abb. § 406.

53. my man, he whom I am in searcli of.

54. But I '11 . . . livery, but assuredly he does not belong to the
same household with you ; pretending to take man in the sense
of ' servant,' as two lines below.

55. Marry, .. follower, I'll swear he will be ready enough to
follow you to the field of combat, if you care to show him the
way ; for the definite article omitted in adverbial phrases, see
Abb. § 90.

158 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act ni.

56. Your worship, said ironically.

57. tlie hate. This is the reading of the first quarto ; the re-
maining quartos and the folios give "the love," which some
editors prefer. But an antithesis to Romeo's emphatic " love,"
two lines lower, seems to be plainly intended.

57, 8. can afford ...tMs, will not allow me to use any better
term.

60,1. the appertaining ... greeting, the rage which would
otherwise belong to, be the necessary consequence of, such an
insolent address ; for otlier instances of transposition of ad-
jectival phrases, see Abb. § 419a.

63. Boy, used as a term of contempt, and not necessarily in-
dicating seniority in tlie speaker ; the injuries, the insult you
have put upon me (in coming uninvited to Capulet's feast) ; for
injuries, in this sense, op. iii. //. VI. iv. 1. 107, " But wliat said
Warwick to these injuries?" i.e. the insulting words used by the
queen.

66. devise, imagine, conceive.

68. tender, hold dearly, cherish ; F. tendre, adjective, tender.

71. Alia . . away, an appeal to the sword wins the day ; stoccata
is the Italian term for a thrust of a sword, and Alia means ' to
the,' the phrase being equivalent to our 'Come on,' said as a
challenge. I take the line to refer to Romeo's declining the
combat, as though Mercutio had said ' See, a challenge is enough
to cow Romeo,' not to refer to what Mercutio himself is going to
do, i.e. fight with Tybalt. The stage direction in the margin,
Drawfi, is not found in the old copies, but was first inserted by
Capell, and is perhaps not necessary. For carries it away, cp.
Haml. ii. 2, 377, "Do the boys carry it mcay?" i.e. get the
better in the contest, win the day.

72. rat-catcher. See note on ii. 4. 18: will you walk? will you
go with me to a spot where we can decide our differences by the
sword ?

74. your nine lives, in allusion to the nine lives that a cat is
said to have.

75. to make bold withal, to take the liberty of ending.

75, 6. and, as you shall . . . eight, and according as opportunity
serves, to cudgel soundly the remaining eight ; as you shall use
me, according as you treat me when I have put an end to one of
your nine lives, i.e. unless I find you more than a match for me,
which I have no fear of ; for dry-beat, cp. below, iv. 5. 126, "I
will dry-heat you with an iron wit "; and C. E. ii. 2. 63, " Lest
it make you choleric and purchase me another dry hasting ",• the
idea being that of beating something moist until all the moisture
is expelled fi'om it.

SCENE I.] NOTES. 159

77. pilcher, scabbard ; probablj' for pilch, a leathern garment,
a garment made of skins ; Lat. peUicens, made of skins. The
word is not fonnd elsewhere in this sense, and it has been con-
jectured that the final -er is a printer's addition, or a mistake for
pilrh, sir ; so Dekker, Satiromastix, " how thou amblest in
leather pikh by a play-waggon " : ears, hilts, which stood out
from the blade as ears do from the head ; used also for the
handles of a jug, as in T. S. iv. 4. 52, " Pitchers have ears," with
a quibble.

77, 8. lest mine ... out, lest you find mine a good deal too close
to your head before you have drawn your sword.
79. I am for you, I am ready to meet you.

81. your passado, let me see you make a thrust, a pass ; see
above, ii. 4. 26.

83. for shame, you ought to be ashamed of yourselves.

85. bandying, exchanging of blows, fighting ; see note on
ii. 5. 14.

Stage Direction, under Romeo's arm, i.e. Romeo having
rushed between them to part them, Tybalt aims a blow at
Mercutio, the sword passing under Romeo's arm.

87. I am sped, I am done for, my business is settled : cp. M. V.
ii. 9. 72, " So be gone : you are sped," i.e. you have got your dis-
missal. The original sense of ' speed ' is ' success,' then ' a hasty
issue. '

88. and hath nothing, without any hurt.

90. villain, not used in the same strong sense as at present ;
the original meaning being ' a farm-servant ' ; here = ' you rogue,'
said good humouredly.

94. a grave man. With a pun on ' grave ' = tomb, a pun which
Marston borrows in The Insatiate Countess, v. 2. 65 : tomorrow.
In Italy, as in all hot climates, the funeral follows closely upon
death: I am peppered, ...world, as regards this world I am
finished off; cp. i. H. IV. ii. 4. 212, "I have peppered two of
them ; two I am sure I have paid, two rogues in buckram suits."

96, 7. a dog ... death ! to think that I should meet my death
at the hands of a wretched fellow like Tybalt !

97,8. that fights ... arithmetic, that is a mere calculating
assassin ; referring to the fact that Tybalt had taken the oppor-
tunity of Romeo's being between them to aim a cowardly blow
at him and then to fly.

98, 9. Why the devil ... arm, i.e. if you had not so oflSciously
interfered, I sliould liave killed him instead of his killing me.

100. I thought ... best, I did wliat I thought was for the best.

103. I have it, I am done for ; like the Lat. habet, he has it,

160 - ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iti.

said when a fatal blow was given in the gladiatorial shows at
Rome ; see note on ii. 4. 24.

104. your houses ! curse your families, and their quarrels
which have brought me to this pass ! On Merciitio's death
Hallam remarks, " It seems to have been necessary to keep down
the other characters that they might not overpower the principal
one ; and though we can by no means agree with Dryden, that if
Shakespeare had not killed Mercutio, Mercutio would have
killed him, there might have been some danger of his killing
Romeo. His brilliant vivacity shows the softness of the other a
little to a disadvantage."

105. near ally, near relation ; in the dramatis personae he is
described as a " kinsman of the prince."

106. My very friend, my true, close, friend.

108. Tybalt's slander. His slanderous accusation in 1.59 above.

108, 9. that an hour . . . kinsman, who, by my marriage with
Juliet, has only just become my kinsman.

111. And in my ... steel, and melted the courage of my tempera-
ment. Though here the result is that of softening, there is in
my temper probably an allusion to the tempering of steel, i.e.
hardening by cooling it.

113. hath aspired the clouds, has been wafted to heaven ; for
aspire without a preposition, Malone quotes Marlowe's Tamher-
laine, " And both our souls asipire celestial thrones." So Faire
Em, i. 68, "And to aspire that bliss ... Thyself and I will travel
in disguise " ; for prepositions omitted after verbs of motion,
see Abb. § 198.

114. Which too... earth, prematurely scorning to remain on
earth.

115. doth depend, hangs over like an ominous cloud, and pre-
sages other evils to come.

116. others, other calamities.

119. respective lenity, gentleness that pays any respect to, has
any regard for, considerations of kinsmanship ; for respective,
cp. K. J. i. 1. 188, " 'Tis too respective and too sociable for your
conversion."

120. my conduct, my guiding principle ; cp. below, v. .*). 116,
" Come, bitter conduct, come unsavoury guide," said of the
poison Romeo is about to drink.

121. take ...again, I hurl back in your teeth the word 'villain'
with which just now you slandered me.

122-4. for Mercutio's soul ... company. Cp. H. V. iv. 6. 15-7,
" Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk ! My soul shall thine keep company

SCENE I.] NOTES. 161

to heaven ; Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast," said by
York on Suffolk's death in battle.

126. consort, accompany.

127. Shalt with him, shall accompany him.

129. are up, are in a state of commotion.

130. will doom thee death, will condemn you to death.

132. fortune"s fool, the sport of fortune ; cp. i. H. IV. v. 4. 81,
' ' But thought 's the slave of life, and life 's time's fool. "

135. Up, sir, come along, make haste ; cp. M. W. iii. 3. 179,
^'Up, gentlemen, you shall see some sport anon: follow me,
gentlemen. "

136. obey, to obey ; dependent on I charge thee.

138. discover, show, relate.

139. manage, course and conduct.

144. as thou art true, I call upon you in the name of your
justice.

149. spoke him fair, used fair words to him, tried to turn away
his wrath by conciliatory words.

150. nice, trivial, petty ; R. III. iii. 7. 175, "But the respects
thereof are nice, and trivial."

150, 1. urged withal ... displeasure, and further pointed out
how by quarrelling they would incur your deep displeasui'e.

153. take truce with, obtain peace ; cp. K. J. iii. 1. 17, " With
my vex'd spirits I cannot take a truce."

154. but that he tilts, and prevent him from tilting.
156. all as hot, equally passionate.

157,8. beats ... aside, put aside, foils, the deadly thrust of
Tybalt's sword.

159, 60. whose dexterity ... it, who dexterously turns it back
upon him : Romeo he, for the redundant pronoun after a proper
name, see Abb. § 243.

164. envious, malignant: hit the life . . . Mercutio, mortally
wounds Mercutio.

167. Who had ... revenge, into whose breast the thought of
revenge had only just entered, i.e. on hearing of Mercutio's death.

173. Aflfection makes him false, his love for Komeo and his
friend Mercutio makes him partial in his story.

174, 5. Some twenty ... life, i.e. it was no fair fight as Benvolio
would make out, but a treacherous attack made upon Tybalt Ijy
a number of Romeo's followers.

179. Who now... owe? who must be made to pay the price of his
death ?

162 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

181. His fault .. end, his fault (in taking upon him to avenge
Mercutio's death instead of leaving punishment to the law) has
merely ended that life which would ha^ e been cut short by the
ordinary course of justice.

184. I have .. proceeding, the course which the hatred between
you has taken has afiected me personally.

185. My Wood, he who was my blood relation ; cp. ./. C. i. 1. 56,
"And do you now strew flowers in his way That comes in triumph
over Pompey's hlood ? " i.e. Pompey's sons : a-bleeding, the prefix
is the preposition OM, i.e. in the act of bleeding ; as in 0th. iv. 1. 188,
" I would have him nine years a-killing." See Abb. § 24.

186. amerce, fine, mulct, punish ; Lat. merces, reward, used in
the sense of punishment : strong, heavy, powerful in the effect it
will produce.

187. the loss. Allen conjectures ' ^A«s loss.'

189. purchase out, buy out, redeem ; so K. J. iii. 1. 164,
" Dreading the curse that money may bity out" ; out having the
intensive force of doing a thing completely.

192. attend our will, be observant of our decision.

193. pardoning, when it pardons.

Scene II.

2. Phoebus' lodging, the western ocean. Malone thi
Shakespeare probably had in mind Marlowe's Edward
42-6, " Gallop apace, bright Phoebus, through the
dusky night, in rusty iron car. Between you both shorten
time, I pray, That I may see that most desired day, When we
may meet these traitors in the field."

3. Phaethon. The son of Helios (the Sun-God), who, when
allowed for one day to drive his father's chariot across the
hea\'«ns, drove so furiously that the horses rushed out of the
usual track, and came so near the earth as almost to set it on
fire.

6. runaways' eyes. The emendations and their explanations of
this phrase occupy twenty-eight pages of small print in Furness's
quarto edition of this play. Of those emendations, if emenda-
tion was necessary, the more reasonable are runagates, rude
day's, Luna's, sunny day's, noonday s, sxm-aweary : but no
emendation seems required. The latest contribution to the
discussion is by Professor Hales, in Longman's Magazine for
February, 1892, from which I take the following extracts :
" Surely the words ' untalked of and unseen ' show that by the
much disputed word in the preceding line is meant some spying
busybody, some tale-telling lounger, some impertinent tattler,

SCENE II.] NOTES. 163

who, if the night were clear, ■woiihl mark the lover making for
liis love, and officiously report what he had seen up and down
the town. ... Juliet's fear is natural enough. Some scandal-
niongering Montagu might be hovering around the premises as
her bridegroom drew near. By night and day Paul Prys and
Peeping Toms, and such gentry, are hanging al)0ut the streets,
prowling quidnuncs, self-appointed inquisitors, indefatigable
gossips, zealous eavesdroppers, listening and peeping and sneak-
ing Evidently if ' runaway es' can denote this species of

creature, it would make capital sense in the speech of Juliet
that concerns us." Professor Hales then proceeds to illustrate
tlie word by a passage from Spenser's ' Epithalamion,' a poem of
about the same date with Romeo and Juliet. "These are
Spenser's lines — he, like Juliet, is apostrophizing Night :

Spread thy broad wing over my love and me,

That no man may us see ;

And in thy sable mantle us enwrap

From fear of peril and foul horror free.

' That no man may us see ' seems exactly to equate * that run-
awayes ej'es may wink.'" ISIentioning that, since he himself
noticed the parallelism, Dr. Mommsen had also observed it, but
prefeiTed Collier's conjecture 'enemies,' Professor Hales con-
tinues, "And now as to this word ' runawayes.' First, let me
remark, it ought probably to be printed in our modern English
' runaways',' not ' runaway's' ; that is, it should be parsed as a
genitive plural. In the next place, it is, I believe, in the sense
we are considering a dtiral Xe^ofJievov, not only in Shakespeare,
but in English literature. It must be remembered, however,
that this is not a fatal fact ; there ai'e analogous cases. And the
question rather to be asked is, whether there is any internal
reason why it should not bear the meaning we have in view.
Now airai/ in our language, besides signifying ' from ' or ' off,'
signifies also \igorously, incessantly. Observe the colloquial
phrases, ' he talked away,' ' fire au-ay,' etc. And so a 'runaway'
might well denote not only a fugitive, as of course it commonly
does, but also one that is perpetually running, that is always
a-foot, that runs to and fro.... It is undeniable that 'away' in
rnnavay might have such a force. And if the word is not
actually found elsewhere with such a meaning, it is certainly
found "in combinations that suggest it, and certainly there are
kindred formations that countenance it. Thus King Richard III.
V. iii. 315.

Remember whom you have to cope withal :
A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runnrcayfi,
A scum of Britons, and base lackey peasants,
Whom their o'ercharged country vomits forth
To desperate ventures and assured destruction.

164 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

... Hunter, who understood runaways in the sense adopted in
this paper, pointed out a late autliority for it in Dyche's Dic-
tionary, 1735: 'Runagate or Runaway, a rover, a wanderer.'"
Space does not admit of my quoting several apt illustrations
from parallel phrases in classical and early English literature,
which _ Professor Hales has adduced ; but I may add that the
retention of ruimawayes has the powerful support of Professor
Dowden, who, in his Shakespeare, His Mind and Art, p. 135,
edn. of 1875, compares for an echo of sense and speech, M. V. ii.
6. 46, " Jessica. Love is blind, and lovers cannot see The pretty
follies that themselves commit. ... Lorenzo. But come at once;
For the close night doth play the runaway. "

8. thou day in night, you (sc. the night) who will be to me
bright with all delight.

9. thou, i.e. in efifect, the happiness which Romeo's coming
will bring, which is synonymous and coeval with Romeo's
coming.

11. black-brow'd night, night which though frowning in look
is so welcome in Juliet's eyes. Steevens compares K. J. v. 6.
17, " Why, here walk I, in the black brow of night."

13. cut him ... stars, cut him out into patterns or shapes of
stars.

14. fine, bright, resplendent.

16. garish, glaring; literally 'staring'; cp. II Penseroso, 141,
"Hide me from day's garish eye."

18. But not possess'd it, but not yet entered upon possession :
though I am sold, though Romeo has purchased me at the price
of his love.

20-2. As is the night ... them. Cp. M. N. D. i. \. 3-6.

24. But Romeo's name, merely his name, that single avoixI.

28. well-a-day. A corruption of walaiva, an intei-jection made
up of two interjections ira and la, which was gradually modified
into the feebler form 'well-away,' and then into 'well-a-day.'
In Per. iv. 4. 49, the word is used as a substantive. Decker
writes ivellada, as well as hoida or hoyda for the later 'hey-day.'

31. envious, malicious, cruel ; as more usually in Shakespeare.

31, 2. Romeo ... cannot, the mischief is not heaven's doing,
but Romeo's.

34. What devil . . . thus ? surely you must be a devil to cause
me the tortures of the damned by exclaiming ' Romeo,' ' Romeo,'
and keeping me in this suspense.

35. should be roar'd . . . hell, hell with its outcries of the tor-
tured would be the fitting place for exclamations that torture
me so.

scEXE II.] NOTES. 165

36. ' I, ' formerly the adverb ' ay ' = yes, was frequently written

38. cockatrice, a fabulous creature, said to be from the egg
of a cock, and having the form of a serpent with a cock's head,
which was supposed to kill with its mere look. Sometimes
identified with the basilisk.

39. I am not ... an I, I am a dead woman if it is possible that
you should answer in the affirmative as to Romeo having slain
himself.

40. Or tbose eyes ... 'I,' or if those eyes are closed in death,
and thus oblige you to answer in the affirmative ; with a further
pun on eyes and /.

42. Brief sounds ... woe, let brief sounds (i.e. a single word)
show whether I am happy or miserable, whether Romeo is alive
or dead.

44. God save the mark ! This expression, which occurs again
in i. H. IV. i. 3. 56, Ofh. i. 1. 33, and with the variation "God
bless the mark ! " in M. V. ii. 2. 25, T. G. iv. 4. 21, has never
been fully explained. Schmidt, it is true, has seen that the
reference is to personal blemishes, tokens, as they were called,
which were considered ominous, and that the phrases "God
bless the mark," "God save the mark," were used to avert the
evil omen ; but in giving the words ' ' saving your reverence,
under your pardon," as its equivalent, he somewhat misses its
force. To a friend, learned in Irish ways and Irish folk-lore, I
owe the following fuller account of the superstition. "The
superstition of the evil eye," he says, "which was originally a
purely eastern one, is still prevalent among the Keltic population
of Ireland. If a child is born with any peculiar mark on the
skin of the leg, face, arm, etc., it is customary for the midwife
to touch it, saying ' God bless the mark ! ' Also, later on in
life, if any one laughs at such a mark, and the person who has
the mark falls ill, it is firmly V^elieved that the illness is the
result of the evil eye. In the year 1867 I knew a peasant's child
who had a red mark on his arm. He was playing about when
a woman observed this mark and laughed at it. A few days
later the child fell sick, and the father went to the woman and
accused her of ' making a bad eye ' (I translate the Irish idiom)
on the child. He then told her that unless she came, spat on
the mark, and said ' God bless the mark ! ' he would bring her
before the bench of magistrates. On her refusal, they came
liefore my father who, to satisfy both parties, bade the woman
do as the man had asked her. Accordingly the woman went,
spat on the place, crossed herself, and said ' God bless the mark ! '
The child recovered, as he would have done, of course, without
this ceremony, and the woman, having got the name of the ' evil

166 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iii.

eye,' left the neighbovirhood. This treatment for bemg 'over-
looked,' as they call it, has been in the country from time im-
memorial, and I have no doubt gave rise to the expression ' God
bless, or save, the mark ! ' " Allusion to some such ceremony
seems to be made in a line in Beaumont and Fletcher's (?) play
of The Noble Gentleman, iv. 4. 93, '^ God bless the mark, and
every good man's child ! "

47. gore-blood. "That is, clotted, congealed blood. ... As the
nurse says of Tybalt, 'all in gore-blood,' exactly so would an
East Anglian nurse say on a like occasion. Or, j^erliaps, ' all of
a gore,' or 'all of a r/oj-e o/ blood '" (Forby). Halliwell quotes
Vicars's Virgil, 1632, "Whose hollow wound vented much l)lack
gore-bloud." swounded, swooned; swound is a form frequently
found in the old copies of Shakespeare, and swounded is perhaps
an intentional vulgarism here.

50. Vile earth, sc. her own body : resign, sc. yourself.

51. press ... bier, make heavy by your weight a single bier;
bier, is the frame on which a coffin is borne ; from the same
root as hear.

55. What storm ... contrary? What storm is this that blows
at tlie same time from two such opposite directions? what
calamity is this of such a double and different nature?

58. trumpet, sc. of the Archangel, to be blown on the Day of
Judgement.

61. he is banished, for the redundant pronoun after a jiroper
name, see Ahh. 243.

64. 0 serpent ... face. Cp. Much. i. 5. 66, 7, "look like the inno-
cent _^o«'er. But be the serpent under it"; iii. H. VI. i. 4. 1.37,
" 0 tiger's heart wrapt in a woman's hide ! "

65. keep, inhabit, occupy ; very frequent in Shakespeare, and
still in use in the universities, where a man is said to ' keep ' in
such and such rooms.

68. Despised, hateful ; cp. above, i. 4. 110, and below, iv. 5. 59 :
show, appearance.

71. what hadst ... hell, what were you busy about in hell, and
how came you to be there, as you must have been ?

72. bower, enclose ; the substantive originally means a place to
dwell, a cliamber, then more commonly a shady recess formed l)y
trees and shrubs, a sense here implied in allusion to paradise, i.e.
a pleasure-ground, garden, particularly the garden of Eden.

74, 5. Was ever . . . bound. For this metaphor, see above, i. 8. 67.

75, 6. O, that deceit ... palace ! Cp. TemjJ. i. 2. 457, " There's
nothing ill can dwell in such a temple " ; said by Miranda of
Ferdinand.

SCENE 11.] NOTES. 167

78. All perjured ... forsworn. With Daniel, I have substituted
Fleay's conjecture for the reading of the old copies, " All per-
jui'ed, all forsworn, all naught, all dissemblers."

79. man, servant: aqua vitse, brandy, or 'strong waters' of
some kind.

84:. may be crown'd, may fitly be crowned, need not blush to be
crowned.

89. smooth thy name, restore to its former state after being
mangled by my cruel words ; cp. above, i. 5. 98.

92. That villain . . . husband, I sufficiently answer my own
accusing question when I say that that villain cousin sought my
husband's death.

93. foolish tears. Steevens compares Miranda's words, Temp.
iii. 1. 73, " I am a fool to weep at what I am glad of."

94. Your tributary . . . woe, your drops are properly due to woe ;
in tributary and belong together there is something of redun-
dancy.

98. All this is comfort, there is nothing in this but what should
give me comfort.

99. worser, in form a double comparative.

101. presses, forces itself upon, thrusts itself into.

105. Hath slain ... Tybalts, outweighs to me the death of ten
thousand Tybalts ; is sufficient to make me acquiesce in the death
of ten thousand such relatives as Tybalt.

108. And needly . . . griefs, and demands to have some companion
calamity ; needly, not elsewhere used by Shakespeare.

109, 10. Why foUow'd .. both, why did she not follow up her
news by saying that my father, or my mother, or both, were dead.

111. Which modern ... moved, news which might have called
forth ordinary lamentation ; modern, always used by Shakespeare
in the sense of commonplace, common, trite ; cp. e.f/. A. II. ii. .3. 2,
" we have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar,
things supernatural and causeless"; Mach. iv. 3. 170, "where
violent sorrow seems A modern ecstasy ; the dead man's knell Is
there scarce ask'd for who."

1 12. a rearward, as a rear-guard, as something supplementary ;
cp. M. A. iv. 1. 128, "For, did I think thou wbnldst not quickly
die ... Myself would, on the rearward of reproaches, Strike at thy
life," i.e. follow up my reproaches by killing you. For rearward
Collier conjectured 'rear-word,' which Lettsom approves and
Hudson adopts.

117. In that words death, in the death that is comprised in
that single word : sound, i.e. adequately, to the full extent.

168 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iir.

120. bring, conduct.

121. Wash they, let them wash.

123. beguiled, cheated of your purpose, rendered useless.

125. made you for, intended you for.

127. my wedding-bed, sc. the grave ; cp. above, i. 5. 133.

132. my true knight, it being customaiy in the days of chivalry
for ladies to adorn their lovers with some mark of their favour.

Scene III.

1 . fearful, apparently combining the sense of ' full of fear ' and
of ' terrible ' in consequence of the awful nature of his calamities.

4. doom, sentence.

5, 6. What sorrow . . . not ? With what fresh sorrow am I to
become acquainted ?

8. tidings, news, information ; used by Shakespeare both as a
singular and a plural noun ; literally things that happen, and then
information about such things.

9. dooms-day, death ; literally the day of death ; cp. R. III.
V. 1. 12, " Why, then, All-Souls' day is my body's dooms-day.'"

10. vanished. The nearest approach in Shakespeare to the word
used in this sense is in Lucr. 1041, "more vent for passage of her
breath ; Which, thronging through her lips, so I'an'mheth As smoke
from ^tna." Heath conjectured issued, and it seems not impos-
sible that the word was caught by the copyist from "banishment"
in the line below.

16. Be patient .. wide, cp. B. II. i. 3. 275-93.

17. Verona walls. Cp. J. C. i. 1. 63, "Tiber banks"; Otli.
i. 1. 151, " Cyprus wars," and for other instances of substantives
converted into adjectives, see Abb. § 22.

19. Hence-banished, to be hence banished.

21. mis-term'd, called by too favourable a name : for banished
the first quarto gi\es baiushment, which many editors adopt. For
a similar insistence on a single word as in the case of "banished"
here, cp. M. V. v. 1. 197-200, K. J. iii. 1. 12-5 ; B. III. i. 3. 292-4.

22. Thou cutt'st ... axe, i.e. you merely employ an euphemism.

23. And smilest ... me, and look cheerfully upon that which is
death to me.

25. calls death, calls a capital one.

26. rush'd aside, ^•iolently thrust aside ; the word is common
in modern parlance in the phrase to ' rush ' a measure through a
meeting.

SCENE III.] NOTES. 169

31. every unworthy thing, every insignificant creature that
has no claim to such happiness.

.^.3. more validity, a more valid title to honour, a greater
privilege; in A. H". v. 3. 192, " Whose . rich ra^/r///;/ Did lack
parallel," the word is used in the simpler sense of value.

34. More honourable state, a higher position : more courtship,
not, it seems to me, 'more courtesy,' as is generally interpreted,
but 'a better opportunity for wooing'; in M. V. ii. 8. 44, the
word means ' courting,'" " employ your chiefest thoughts To
cou7iship and .such fair ostents of love" ; in A. Y. L. iii. 2. 364,
the senses of courtesy, civility, and courting are blended together,
"an old religious uncle of mine ... who was in his youth an
inland man; one that knew courtship well, for there he fell in
love " ; and in this blended sense Schmidt takes the word here.

36. the -white wonder ... hand, that hand of Juliet's so won-
drously fair ; cp. M. X. D. iii. 2. 144, "0 let me kiss That
princess oj pure white," sc. her hand.

38. vestal, see note on ii. 2. 8 : for who, personifying an
irrational antecedent ; see Abb. § 264.

39. their own kisses, sc. M-hen they meet each other.

40. 3. But Romeo . . . death. The old copies vary considerably in
these lines, and transpositions and omissions have been employed
by the editors to get rid of the repetition involved ; I follow the
text and order of lines given by Grant White, Furness, and
Daniel.

45. No sudden . . . mean, no sudden means of death, however
poor, ignoble, that means might be. Shakespeare uses both the
singular and the plural form of the word mean and the plural
form as a singular noun, as so commonly nowadays.

48. Howlings attend it, it is accompanied by howls and groans ;
cp. iii. 2. 44.

49. a divine, a man of priestly office.

52. fond, foolish ; see note on ii. 2. 98.

5.^. Adversity's sweet milk, the food that sweetens adversity ;
cp. A. Y. L. ii. 1. 12, et ^eqq.

57. Hang up philosophy ! away with pliilosophy ! throw it
aside for a more convenient season.

59. Displant a town, transplant it to the scene of my exile,
and so bring .Juliet with it.

60. prevails not, is of no use.

02. How should they, how is it to be expected that they should
have ? when that, for the conjunctional affix, see Abb. § 287.

63. Let me . . . estate, let me argue with you as to the position
in which you are placed by being exiled. So, W. T. iv. 4. 411,

170 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

" can he speak ? hear ? Know man from man ? dispute his own
estate ? " i.e. reason of his own affairs, but perhaps with the added
sense of vindicating his right to what he possesses.

70. Taking . . . grave, lying my full length on the ground, as I
soon shall do in my grave. Cp. A. Y. L. ii. 6. 2, " Here lie I
down and measure out my grave ",• Lear, i. 4. 100, " If you will
measure your htbher's length again, tarry," i.e. if you wish to be
knocked down again.

72. Mist-like ... eyes, cp. above, i. 1. 176.

74. Who's there? said, like " Stay-a-while," "By-and-by," "I
come, I come," in the following lines, to the person knocking,
whom the Friar fancies to be someone come to arrest Romeo.

76. study, private reading-room.

77. simpleness, folly.

79. errand, business on which I come, message that I bring ;
the ulterior etymology of the word is disputed, though we get
the word from A. S. arende, a message, business.

85, 6. 0 woful ... predicament. The old copies all give these
words to the Nurse, the present arrangement being Farmer's.
Delius would leave them with the Nurse, on the ground that
throughout this and the followuig scenes the readiness of the
Friar to act is in contrast with the vain wailings of the Nurse
and Romeo. But such language seems much out of place in the
Nurse's mouth.

87. Blubbering, weeping copiously, effusively, the radical sense
being that of bul)l)ling up ; generally used derisively. The sense
of weeping till the face swells is due to the influence of the
adjective blubber = swollen.

90. so deep an 0, such cries 'of affliction, such depths of de-
spair ; possibly, from the words fall into, with the idea of a deep
hole.

92. WeU, ... all, well, we must all die some day, and then at all
events our troubles will be at an end.

94. an old murderer, a confirmed murderer ; but said for the
sake of the antithesis with the childhood of our joy in the next
line.

98. My conceal'd lady, ' ' my lady, whose being so, together
with our marriage which made her so, is concealed from the
world " (Heath) : cancell'd, rendered void, annulled ; originally to
obliterate by drawing lines over a writing in the form of lattice-
work, from Lat. cancellus, a grating.

103. deadly level of a gun, gun levelled with deadly aim.

106, 7. In what part ... lodge, cp. Ci/mb. ii. 4. 19, 20, " Could I
find out The woman's part in me ! ", where the action is implied-;

SCENE m.] NOTES. 171

for anatomy, = body, cp. T. N. iii. 2. 67, "I'll eat the rest of
the anatomy," where, as here, the expression is a scornful one.

108. mansion. Cp. above, iii. 2. 26, wliere Juliet uses with such
pride a term that in Romeo's mouth is here so disdainful.

109. cries out, proclaims.

112. Unseemly ... man, whereby you, Avho in form are a man,
are transformed into an effeminate woman, a transformation that
ill becomes you.

113. Or ill-heseeming ... both, or, rather I should call you, a
hideous animal, partaking the form of a man, and the effeminate
nature of a woman ; with the idea in seeming of specious
appearance.

114. amazed, astounded ; literally bewildered : order, the
religious society of M'hich he was a member, the Franciscan
Order of monks. See note on v. 2. 1.

11-5. temper 'd, framed, conditioned.

116. Hast thou ... myself ? will you after having committed one
rash crime, now commit another equally rash ?

118. damned hate, an act of hatred against yourself for which
you will consign your soul to perdition ; though perhaps damned
means no more than accursed, execrable.

119. Why rail'st ... earth ? Probably, as Malone remarks,
Shakespeare is here following Brooke's Eomeus and Jtdiet, in
which such railing is found, though Ulrici suggests that the
railing may be supposed to have taken place before the scene
opens.

120. 1. all three ... once, all have a share in you, all go to the
making up of you : lose, hastily throw away.

122. wit, good sense.

123. Which, though you, seeing that you.

126. is but . . . wax, is no better than a form moulded out of wax.

127. Digressing from, if you abandon.

128. Thy dear love ... perjury, you make a hollow mockery of
the oaths you have so solemnly taken (in marriage).

129. that love, that loved one : cherish. A reference to the
Marriage Service in which the husband swears tiiat he takes his
wife " for better, for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and
in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part."

130. 1. Thy wit, ...both, that good sense which, if properly
used, so well becomes your outwardly comely form and the
passion with which your heart is hispired, being distorted by the
way in which you employ it towards yourself and your heart's
feelings.

172 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

132. Like powder ... flask. "The ancient English soldiers,
using 7natch-\ocks instead of locks with iiints, were obliged to
carry a lighted match hanging at their belts, very near to the
wooden ^a.s^- in which they kept their powder " (Steevens).

134. dismemtoer'd, utterly destroyed ; in a literal sense, blown
to pieces : thine own defence, that which should be your pro-
tection.

135. rouse thee, shake off this morbid despondency.

1 36. For whose . . . dead, for desire of whom you were lately at
the point of death ; see his passionate language to the Friar, ii. 3,
or perhaps the reference may be to words supposed to be spoken
while Romeo was in hiding at the Friar's cell.

137. There, in that matter ; would, wished, sought, to.

141. A pack ... back, instead of a burden to be wearily borne,
a shower of blessings descends upon you ; so T. G. iii. 1. 20, "a
pack of woes. "

143. misbehaved, ill-mannered ; not gratified at being made
love to by happiness in all its bright attire, but disdainful and
sulky.

144. pout'st upon, make a wry face at ; cp. Co?: v. i. 52, " The
veins unfiU'd, our blood is cold, and then We pout upon the
morning."

146. decreed, determined upon between you ; cp. J/. ^. i. 3.

35, ' ' I have decraed not to sing in my cage. "

147. Ascend, sc. by the rope ladder : hence, be off at once !

148. But look ... not, take care not to delay : the watch, tlie
night police mIio were posted at a certain hour.

149. pass to Mantua, make your way out of the city to
Mantua.

150. a time, a suitable opportunity.

151. To blaze, to make public, proclaim ; originallj' to blow,
as with a trumpet.

157. Which heavy . unto, to which they will be all the more
disposed on account of their sorrow for Tybalt.

160. what learning is ! what a fine thing it is to be learned !
The omission of the article is frequent in Shakespeare in ex-
clamations of astonishment, etc. ; so J. C. i. 3. 42, " Cassius,
what night is this ? ", i.e. what a terrible night this is ; Cymh. iv.
4. 35, "what thing it is that I never Did see man die!", i.e.
what a disgrace it is that I never took part in battle.

165. is revived by this, sc. by the proof she had given, in
sending the ring, of her continued love in spite of knoM'ing that
he had slain Tybalt.

SCENE III.] NOTES. 173

166. here stands ... state, this is the position in which you
stand, M-hat you must do. Johnson explains, "The whole of
your fortune depends on this."

170. signify, make known by letter or messenger.

173. past joy, beyond all other joy.

1 74. so brief, so briefly, with such few words of farewell.

Scene IV.

2. move, try to persuade.
6. promise, assure.

10. know, ascertain, discover ; cp. t. 3. 198.

11. she is mew'd ... heaviness, she is a prisoner to her grief, is
alone with her grief. " Meiv is the place, whether it be abroad
or in the house, in which the Hawk is put during the time she
casts, or doth change her Feathers "' (R. Holme's Academy of
Ai-viory and Blazon, quoted by Dyce, Gloss.). From the sub-
stantive 7neiv, from which comes the verb, we get our -word yjieics
- stables, original^ a place for falcons.

12. 3. I wiU make... love, I will hazard the offer of my
daughter's love without waiting to learn finally what her in-
clinations on the subject are. Paris being " kinsman to the
Prince," Capulet is anxious to secure the alliance.

16. my son, i.e. son in law. So in M. A. iv. 1. 27, Claudio,
betrothed to Hero, calls Leonato " Father" before the marriage,
and Leonato answers him as "my son"; in T. S. ii. 1. 318,
Petruchio addresses his future father-in-law, " Provide the feast,
falher," and five lines lower down says, " Father and icife, and
gentlemen, adieu," it being then customary for those betrothed to
term one another ' husband ' and ' wife ' even Ijefore the marriage
ceremony, and consequently their future parents-in-law ' father '
and ' mother. '

18. soft, gently ! let me paiise to consider.

21. earl, nobleman ; the title of course is an English, not an
Italian, one.

23. We '11 . . . ado, we'll not make much fuss about the matter,
not celebrate the marriage with any great feasting : ado, troul)le,
"properly v. i)if. = at do, which was the fuller form ... (1) in-es.
inf. to do; ... (2) In doing, being done ; at work, astir ... hence
through such phrases as 7nuch ado, etc., by taking the adverbs
as adjectives qualifj'ing ado, the latter was viewed as a sub-
stantive" ... (Murray, En/j. Diet.).

25. held him carelessly, held him cheap, did not sorrow for
him as much as we should have done.

174 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi.

26. Being our kinsman, considering that he was a relation.

28. And thero an end, and that is sufficient.

30. get you gone. "An idiom ; that is to say, a peculiar form
of expression, the principle of which cannot be carried out
beyond the particular instance. Thus we cannot say either
Make thee gone or He got hiin (or himself) gone. Phraseologies,
on the contrary, which are not idiomatic are paradigmatic, or
may serve as models or moulds for otliers to any extent. All
expression is divided into these two liinds"... (Craik on </. C. ii.
4. 2).

32. against, in anticipation of, so that slie may be ready
when the day comes ; cp. M. N. D. iii. 2. 99, "I '11 charm his
eyes against she do appear." The use is now colloquial only.

34. Afore me, a form of petty oath, by my soul ; softened
from ' afore God.'

Scene V.

1. Wilt thou be gone, are you determined to go?

3. That pierced ... ear, that sounded in your ear and made you
afraid, i.e. of staying here too late to make your escape to
Mantua.

4. pomegranate-tree. Though flourishing in England, this
tree was originally brought from warmer climates, and was
particularly abundant in Palestine. Tlie Romans introduced it
into Italy, whence it spread to other European countries. Tlie
date of its first cultivation in England is uncertain, though
Chaucer mentions the tree in his Romaunt of the Rose, 1356,
"Of ponie-garnetiys a fuUe gret delle." In England its fruit,
though handsome, is not worth eating. Knight is informed l)y
a friend that "throughout his journeys in the East he never
heard such a choir of nightingales as in a row of pomegranate
trees that skirt tlie road from Smyrna to Boudjia." From Lat.
pomuniy an apple, and granatum, filled with seeds. Shakespeare,
like most poets, speaks of the female bird as singing ; though,
as he no doubt well knew, it is tlie male bird alone tliat sings, —
he, like otliers, being mfluenced by the myth that Philomela,
daughter of King Pandion, was metamorphosed into a night-
ingale.

6. herald, cp. V. A. 531, "The owl, night's herald, shrieks
"Tis very late.'"

7. envious, spiteful, malignant.

8. Do lace ... east, crosses with bands of light the clouds that
part at its advent ; cp. Haml. ii. 2. 313, "this brave o'erhanging
firmament, this majestical vooi fretted with golden fire."

SCENE v.] NOTES. 175

9. Night's candles, the stars; cp. Macb. ii. 1. 4, 5, "There's
husbandry in heaven ; their candles are all out."

10. tiptoe, eager for his journey, alert. So we speak of being
'on the tiptoe of expectation.'

11. I must ... die, if I am to live, 1 must be gone ; for, if I
stay, my life will be forfeit.

13. exhales, draws up from the earth; cp. i. H. IV. v. 1. 19,
"And he no more an exhaled meteor" ; ii. 4. 352, "My lord do
you see these meteors? do you behold these exhalations?", the
belief being that they were vapoiirs which the sun had drawn
up from the earth and condensed.

14. torch-bearer. Todd compares Sidney's Arcadia, " The
moon, then full, not thinking scorn to be a torch-bearer to such
beauty, guided her steps."

18. so, provided that.

20. Cynthia's brow. Collier's MS. Corrector gives how for broio,
which is a very tempting conjecture, Cynthia, or Diana {i.e. the
moon) being generally represented with her bow. Clarke sup-
poses the allusion to be to the crescent moon ujion her brow
with which she is cla-ssically represented.

21. Nor . not, for the emphatic double negative, see Abb. § 406 :
beat, strike with their vibrations.

23. care, desire : will, determination.

25. my soul ! addressed to Juliet.

28. Straining . . . sharps, in the straining of her voice to the
highest pitch, producing jarring discords and notes of piercing
shrillness ; discords and sharps, both technical terms in music,
tlie former "a combination of notes which produces a certain
restless craving in the mind for some furtlier coml)ination upon
which it can rest with satisfaction"; the latter "a term which
expresses the raising of a note by a less quantity than a whole
tone. F sharp is half a tone higher than F natural : a singer
'sang sharp,' that is, sang slightly higher than tlie accompani-
ment; 'the pitch was sharpened,' that is, was slightly raised"
(Diet, of Music, edited by Sir George Grove).

29. division, "is what we now call variation; where instead
of one note, two, three, or more notes are sung to one syllable
or to one chord " (Staunton).

31, 2. Some say... too! because the croaking toad would
not be "the herald of the morn" to frighten Romeo away.
"The toad," says Warburton, "having very line eyes, and the
lark very ugly ones, was the occasion of a common saying among
the people that the toad and lark had changed eyes."

176 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act m.

33. Since arm . . . afifray, since that voice frightens us from our
loving embraces.

34. hunt's-up. "Any song intended to arouse in the morning, —
even a love-song, — was formerly called a hunf,'s-up ; and tlie

- name was, of course, derived from a tune or song employed by
early hunters" ... (.Staunton).

36. More light ... woes, the brighter the day shines forth, the
darker fall the shadows of our woes.

40. be wary, look about, take heed and be on your guard, .sc.
that Romeo should not be discovered ; cp. Lear, iv. 7. 93, '"Tis
time to look about ; the powers of the kingdom approach apace."

44, 5. I must ... days, you must let me hear from you every
day in the hour. I say ' every day in the hour, ' for a minute of
your absence will to me be as tedious as many days of ordinary
reckoning.

46. by this count ... years, by this reckoning I shall be far
advanced in years, well on in life.

52. I doubt it not. To Daniel " it seems probable that the I
here stands for the affirmative Ay," in which case a comma will
be necessary after the word. The first quarto reads " No doubt,
no doubt," a reading which confirms the conjecture, — to me a
nearly certain one.

54. 0 God ! ... soul. Cp. Romeo's forebodings above, i. 4. 106-11.

55. now thou art below, now that he has descended to the
ground.

59. Dry sorrow ... blood. Sighs were supposed to drain the
blood from the heart ; cp. ]\r. N. D. iii. 2. 97, "sighs of love,
that costs the fresh blood dear " ; ii. H. VI. iii. 2. 63, ' ' Look
jjale as primrose with hlood-drinkimj sighs."

61. what dost... him, what business have you to associate
yourself with him ? you and he are no fit companions.

66. Is she not . . . early, am I to suppose that she has stayed
downstairs so late (i.e. has not been in bed), or that she has risen
so early ?

67. procures, brings about her coming ; cp. above, ii. 2. 145,
" By one that I '11 procure to come to thee."

68. Why, how now, Juliet ? said in reproach at not finding Jier
dressed.

72. have done, cease lamenting.

73. But much . . . wit. Ulrici notices that it is thoroughly in
keeping with Lady Capulet's heartless character and artificial
nature that she should consider deep feeling an indication of want
of wit. i.e. good sense.

I

SCENE v.] NOTES. 177

74, such a feeling loss, such a heartfelt loss ; op. Lear, iv. 6.
226, " Who, by the art of known and feeling sorrows. Am pregn-
ant to good pity. "

75, 6. So shall you ... for, in that way you will only expei'ience
the bitterness of tiie loss without bringing back to life him who
is lost.

76, 7. Feeling ... friend, since I feel the loss so bitterly, I can-
not help for ever mourning the friend to whose loss that bitter
grief is due.

78, 9. Well, girl, .. him, well, girl, whatever you may say of
your grief for Tybalt, I believe the real cause of your sorrow is
that Romeo has not yet been punished with death.

81. Villain ... asunder. Many editors have adopted Hanmer's
stage direction, Aside. This seems to me a mistake. Juliet's
words are purposely made ambiguous, as in the following speeches,
by the use of he ; as she intends the words to be taken by her
mother, they express a wish, as she means them, they are a
statement.

83. like he, more grammatically him.

84r. traitor, traitorous ; so R. II. i. 1. 102, "a traitor coward."

88. Then weep no more, then, if, as I supposed, this is the
cause of your grief, you may dry your tears.

89. runagate, scoundrel, vagabond; literally an 'apostate,'
from Lat. reuegare, to deny again, to abjure one's religion, from
which we have renegade. Skeat shows that the form is due to a
confusion with 7'iin and gate, a way, the M. E. rcnegat being
popularly supposed to stand for remie a gate, i.e. to run on the
way. The word is familiar to ^^s from the Prayer Book version
of the P.salms, Ixviii. 6, " letteth the runagates continue in scarce-
ness," where tlie Bible version has " the rebellious."

90. such... dram, a draught very different from his usual
potations. A dram, here = a poisonous draught, is the same
word as dram, a small weight, Gk. 8paxH-T|, a handful, such
draughts being given in small quantities ; in v. 1. 60, below, the
word is probably used in the more literal sense.

93-5. Indeed ... vex'd. " The several interpretations of which
this ambiguous speech is capable are I suppose : 1. I shall never
be satisfied with Romeo. 2. I shall never be satisfied with
Romeo till I behold him. 3. I shall never be satisfied with
Romeo till I behold him dead. 4. Till I behold him, dead is my
poor heart. 5. Dead is my poor heart, so for a kinsman vext "
(Daniel).

96. but, a transposition, the word really belonging to find out.

97. temper, mix, compound; so Haml. v. 2. 339, "It is a
'poison tempeved by himself."

M

178 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act in.

99. sleep in quiet, again ambiguously, the potion she would
really like to administer being her own presence, companionship.

100. and cannot ... Mm, seeing that I (implied in my heart) (1)
cannot find my way to join him, (2) cannot get at him to poison
him.

101. To wreak ... cousin, to show, by the vengeance I would
take, how great my love was for my cousin ; of course the
"vengeance" she would really take would be to throw herself
into her husband's arms ; wreak, from A.S. to revenge, punish,
originally to urge, impel. Some word has evidently fallen out
from the line, which is supplied in the later folios by " Tybalt."
Malone, who points out that the last word of a line, especially
when a proper name, is not likely to have been lost, conjectures
" murder' d cousin"; others suggest "tender love," or "ever
bore," or " bore unto."

105. needy time, time that has such good need of something to
cheer it ; in Per. i. 4. 9.5, needy is used either for ' needful,' or
for that which supplies the wants, " our ships ... Are stored with
corn to make your needy bread " ; elsewhere it is used of
persons, = indigent, or of things, = scantily supplied, as below, v.
1. 42, " neecZy shop. "

107. careful, sc. of her interests and happiness.

109. Hath sorted ... joy, has picked out a day for the sudden
accomplishment of your happiness ; in sorted there is no doubt
an allusion to choosing a propitious day by consulting an oracle,
the word in all its senses being ultimately referable to the Lat.
sors, sorii'i, a lot, decision by lot, an oracular response (often
written on a little tablet or lot) ; so in iii. H. VI. v. 6. 85, with-
out the adverb, ' ' But I will sort a pitchy day for thee. "

111. in happy time. A literal translation of the F. a la honne
heure, an expression iised in acquiescence, astonishment, or in-
dignation, here with doubtful satisfaction ; so very frequently
" in good time."

114. County, see note on i. 2. 68.

118, 9. that I must ... woo, according to which I am destined
to be married before he who is to be my husband has even come
to seek my love ; should, is to be, as he thinks.

123. These ... indeed ! this is a pretty piece of news you had to
give ! you may well call your communication ' news. '

12-3. how he will... hands, what he will think of such an
answer from your lips ; though it is used indefinitely ; see
Abb. § 226.

126. the air. The earlier quartos and the folios give earth, but
though it may be scientifically true that dew rises from the earth,
and in that sense the earth may be said to drizzle dew, the words

SCENE v.] NOTES. 179

It rains downright shovr that air must be the right reading
here.

127. sunset. In Campbell's beautiful lines in Lochiel, the word
is used not for death itself but for the approach of death ; " 'Tis
the sunset of life gives me mystical lore And coming events cast
their shadows before."

129. a conduit, girl ? what, are your tears still flowing like a
conduit never dry !

1.30-7. In one ... body. Cp. the king's fanciful similes, R. II. v.
5. 50-60.

136. Without ... calm, unless quickly followed by a calm.

138. decree, decision ; cp. above, iii. 3. 146.

139. but she ... thanks, but she is goc3d enough to thank you
and to say that she will have none of our decision, nothing to do
with the plan of wedding her to Paris.

140. were married . grave. Cp. above, i. 5. 132, 3.

141. take me with you, let me be sure I understand you ; cp.
i. H. IV. ii. 4. 508, " I would your grace would take me with
you," i.e. be explicit in your language.

143. proud, sc. of the noble alliance we have secured for her.

144, 5. we have . . . bridegroom, we have arranged that so
worthy a gentleman should be, etc.

146. Not proud ... have, I cannot say that I am proud you
should have done this ; though I am thankful, knowing that you
did it out of love for me.

148. is meant love, is meant as love, is done with a loving
purpose.

149. How . . . chop-logic, have you become a splitter of straws, do
you venture to bandy arguments with me in this quibbling way ?

151. mistress minion, my pert young madam ; minion, F.
mignon, a favourite, darling, from the adjective mi(jnon. dainty,
neat, pleasing, kind. Skeat says that the sinister sense which
the word so commonly has is probably borrowed from the Italian
ynignone, a minion, a favourite.

152. Thank ... prouds. don't talk this nonsense of your being
thankful and proud ; cp. B. II. ii. 3. 87, " Grace me no grace
and uncle me no uncles," said in answer to Bolingbroke's words,
" My gracious uncle."

153. But fettle ... next, but make ready those dainty limbs, of
which you are so vain, in anticipation of Thursday next, i.e. of
having to go to church for your marriage ; to fettle, though of
uncertain origin; is to set about doing a thing, generally with the
idea of something difficult or unpleasant ; for 'gainst, cp. above,
iii. 4. 32.

180 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iir.

155. on a hurdle. As convicted criminals were dragged to
punishment.

156. Out, ... carrion, shame on yon, you languid, whining,
creature with a face as pale as a corpse ; the green sickness, a
disease of a hysterical nature, accompanied by a pale, livid, com-
plexion, to which females were subject : baggage, worthless
minx ; used of a good-for-nothing woman, from the idea of an
encumbi-ance and thence useless encumbrance, rubbish ; in a
similarly contemptuous sense, that of encumbrance, the corpse of
Hotspur is called liu/'jage in i. H. IV. v. 4. 160.

157. are you mad ? said as Capulet is about to strike Juliet.

159. but, properly belonging to a word.

160. Hang thee, reflexive ; though thee here, and in the next
line, is used with scornful emphasis.

164. itch, long to strike you.

164-7. we scarce ... her. Cp. M. A. iv. 1. 129-31, "Grieved I,
I ha<l but one ? Chid I for that at frugal nature's frame ? 0, one
too much by thee ! Why had I one ? " : lent, the first quarto
gives sent, which many editors adopt, but which seems to me a
very inferior reading : in but and only there is a redundancy.

168. hilding, see note on ii. 4. 44.

169. to rate her so, in scolding her so bitterlj' ; to rate, the
infinitive used indefinitively ; see Abb. § .356.

170. my lady wisdom ! you, my fine lady, who set up for being
so wise.

171. prudence. ".Just as 'prudence' is here personified as a
female, it was in The Temp. ii. 1. 286, personified as a male "
(Delius) : smatter with, vent your smatterings of wisdom, utter
your bits and scraps of wisdom ; gossips, see note on ii. 1.11.

172. God ye god-den, see note on 1.2.57. In order to mend the
metre Theobald reads " Peace, peace," etc. ; Fleay " speak t' ye."

174. Utter . . . bowl, go and litter your platitudes among your
cronies as you sit sipping your bowl of wine ; cp. M. N. D. ii. 1.
47, " And sometimes lurk I in a gossip's boid."

175. hot, passionate.

176. God's bread ! by the bread of the holy sacrament !
176-8. God's bread ... company. Many conjectures have been

proposed here, the most satisfactory of which seems to be that of
Fleay, whom Daniel follows ; " Lady Cap. You are too hot.
Cap. God's bread ! it makes me mad ; Day-time, night-tide,
waking or sleeping hour. At home, abroad, alone, in company,
Working or playing, still my care hath been To have her
match'd." The reasoning on which this conjecture is based is
extremely ingenious, but too long to be quoted here.

SCENE v.] NOTES, 181

179. To have her match'd, to get her a woi-thy husband.

182. Stuflf'd, full of ; Capulet speaks of the word as if when
used in this sense it was somewhat ridiculous, as they say, just
as we might say ' crammed ' ; though the term is used in all
seriousness in W. T. ii. 1. 185, "whom you know Of stvff'd
sufficiency"; M. A. i. 1. 56, ^'stuffed with all honourable
virtues. "

183. Proportion'd . . . man, every part as completely in pro-
portion Vi'iih the rest as one could possibly wish if he were con-
ceiving a perfect man.

184. puling, whimpering ; literally to chirp like a bird ; from
F. piauler, ' to peep, or cheep, as a young bird ; also to jmle or
howle, as a young whelp'; Cotgrave. Cp. Ital. pigolare, to
chirp, moan, complain. These are imitative words "... (Skeat,
Kty. Diet.).

185. mammet, puppet, doll : in her fortune's tender, " in the
moment when good fortune presents itself to her " (Clarke).

188. I '11 pardon you, said ironically, his pardon being only
such as he expresses in the following line.

189. Graze ... me, you can go and get your food in the fields,
for there will Ije no home for you in my house.

190. do not use. We no longer employ the verb in this sense in
the present tense.

191. lay . advise, consider the matter thoroughly and be wise ;
to ' lay the hand on the heart ' is a gesture used in protesting the
reality of tlie feeling expressed ; advise, consider ; so reflexively,
T. N. iv. 2. 102, ^^ Advise you what you say."

196. Trust to 't, be sure I mean what I say.

199. Sweet my mother, on the transposition of my, see Abb.
§13.

203. I '11 not speak a word, sc in your behalf.

204r. for I ... thee, for I have nothing more to do with you, I
wash my hands of you and your concerns.

206-9. My husband . . . earth, all that I love, my husband, is on
earth ; all tliat I trust in, my belief in God, is in heaven ; how
shall trust come back to earth and l)e felt bj^ me in regard to
earthly matters unless he in whom all my love is placed send it
to me, a thing he cannot do without leaving earth, while, if he
did so, I should no longer have any interest in earthly matters ;
if my husband lives, 1 have no hope of earthly happiness (for we
can never be together), if he dies, my case is equally hopeless.
Such I take to be the meaning of the passage, which seems to be
obscure, but on which none of the commentators has any
comment.

182 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act hi. sc. v.

210. practise stratagems, contrive plots ; practise (vb. ) and
practice (.sb. ) being frec^uently used by Shakespeare in a bad sense.

214. and all ... nothing, it is beyond all odds.

215. challenge, claim.

218. you married, that you should marry.

220. a dishclout, a dirty rag ; not that dishclouts are neces-
sarily dirty, tliough in the Nurse's mind that would be their more
usual condition.

221. green. Though rare in England and not greatly admired,
green eyes, as the commentators show, have been enthusiastically
praised by foreign writers, especially Spanish writers.

222. Beshrew, see note on ii. 5. 51.

225, 6. or 'twere ... him, or, if he is not dead, he might just as
well be so as be alive here when you can derive no pleasure from
his companionship ; here seems rather questionable, and Hanmer
reads hence.

227. Speakest ... heart ? a phrase varied in Lear, i. 1. 106, by
"But goes thy heart with this ? "

228. Amen ! Juliet emphatically endorses the Nurse's maledic-
tion on herself.

229. Well. Afraid that she has roused the Nurse's suspicions by
her emphatic "Amen ! ", Juliet tries to put her off by assuming a
good-humoured tone : marvellous, used adverbially.

230. my lady, using the term which would be proper in the
Nurse's mouth : I am gone, the difference between ' am gone ' and
' have gone ' is that the former expresses the present state, the
latter the activity necessary to cause the present state ; see Abb.
§295.

234. Ancient damnation ! the old devil !

237. above compare, as being above all comparison.

238. counsellor, you from whom I have so often asked and
received advice (as in 1. 209 she says "counsel me"), but here
with scorn.

240. his remedy, what remedy he may suggest.

241. myself. Strictly speaking the ' my ' in myself is not a pro-
nominal adjective but the inflected case of the pronoun ' I,' and
myself is equivalent to ' for the same me ' ; see Abb. § 20.

Act IV. Scene I.

3. And I . . . haste, and I am in nothing dilatory so as to hinder
his haste in concluding the marriage.

4. the lady's mind, how Juliet is inclined as to the marriage.

ACT IV. SO. I.] NOTES. 183

5. Uneven is the course, this way of proceeding is far from
regular, is not one that can be commended as the proper one.
The Friar, having married Romeo and Juliet, is of course bound
to put all possible objections in the way of a marriage with Paris.

7 little ... love, said little to her about my passionate love.

8. house, household ; probably, from the mention of Venus,
there is also an allusion to the terra as used in astrology of that
sign of the Zodiac in which a planet happens to be at a particular
time. So Massinger, The City JSFadam, ii. 1. 59, " Venus in the
west angle, the Jiouse of marriage " ; and again, 79, 84, 5, "Venus
... in cazimi of the sun, in her joy, and free from the malevolent
beams of infortunes " ; Jonson, The Alchemist, i. 1, "to Mercury
... His house of life being Libra."

9, 10. counts it . sway, is afraid that if her grief is allowed to
hold such complete possession of her, is not diverted by some
event of importance, it may lead to a disastrous result, i.e. either
by her going out of her mind or by her doing herself some personal
mischief.

13. too much ... alone, wholly occupying her tlioughts so long
as she is left by herself; tears in the line above implies 'grief,'
to which word minded is more applicable.

14. May be ... society, may be removed by her taking part in
social distractions.

16. I would ... slow'd, I only wish I did not know too good
reason why matters should be delayed.

19. That may be . . . wife, it will he time enough to say that when
I am a (i.e. your) wife, if ever I am to be so.

20. That may be . . . next, what you talk of as a possibility will
be a certainty by Thursday next.

23. To answer that, by answering that, if I were to answer
that ; the infinitive used indefinitely.

25. I will ... him, if I cannot admit to him that I love you, at
all events I may admit to you that I love him (which I dare say
will do just as well).

28. spoke. On the curtailed forms of past participles, see
Abb. § 343.

29. abused, ill-treated, i.e. disfigured.
32. than tears, sc. do.

.34. to my face. With a play on the phrase in the sense of
openly, not behind the back.

36. It may... own, it may be that I have slandered it, for it
belongs to another (of course Romeo), and what I might have
said of it without injury to any one so long as it belonged to my-
self, becomes now injurious.

184 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

38. at evening mass. Shakespeare has been supposed to make
a mistake here, mass being said only in the morning when the
priest is fasting ; but Simpson has shown (Nfw Shak-espeare
Transactions, 1875) that the practice of saying mass in the after-
noon was continued at certain places even after it had been
expressly forbidden by Pius the Fifth, and that, at the Cathedral
of Verona, strangely enough, so late as 1824 the prohibition of
evening mass was disregarded.

40. we must . . . alone, we nuist ask you to leave us in private
for the present ; an elliptical expression for ' entreat of yoa to
give us the time alone,' i.e. to ourselves.

41. God shield, heaven forbid ! i.e. I would not on any account
disturb, etc.; cp. A. II'. i. 3. 174, "God shield you mean it
not ! "; M. M. iii. 1. 141, " Heaven shield my mother play'd my
father fair ! "

42. rouse ye, come early to your chamber to take you to church.

46. thy grief, your cause of grief, your trouble.

47. It strains . . . wits, it is so great that it paralyses my wits to
find a remedy.

48. prorogue, delay, postpone ; see note on ii. 2. 78.

53. Do thou but ... wise, all I ask is that you should sanction
with your approval my determination to kill my.self.

54. this knife. Dyce quotes Gilford's note on Jonson's The
Staple of News, ii. 1, " Daggers, or, as they were more commonly
called, knives, were worn at all times, by every woman in
England — whether they were so in Italy, Shakspeare, I believe,
never enquired, and I cannot tell " : help it, prevent my marriage
with Paris.

57. the label, the attestation ; the seals to ancient documents
were attached to them by slips of parchment or ' labels ' ; cp.
T. N. i. 5. 265, " it shall be inventoried, and every particle and
utensil labelled to my will," i.e. attached by labels as seals were.

59. both, sc. heart and hand.

60. out of... time, out of the accumulated experience of a long
life-time ; out of indicates the heap from which the particular
piece of advice is to be taken.

62. extremes, extremity of suffering : bloody, cruel, ready to
shed blood ; not yet stained with blood but which will be so ■
stained by my deed ; a somewhat similar prolepsis occurs in
K. J. iv. 2. 210, " To break with in the bloody house of life," i.e.
the house of life which will by the action be made bloody.

63. Shall play the umpire, shall decide between me and my
miseries, decide whether they are to continue to torture me, or
whether I am to overcome them by putting an end to myself.

SCENE I.] NOTES. 185

63-5. arbitrating ... bring, detenuining that matter which the
authority of youi- years and knowledge was unable to bring to
any honourable issue ; deciding that question to which you with
all the warrant of long years and wide experience were unable to
give a satisfactory answer, not the question whether she is to
live or die, but whether it is possible for her to live with honour.

66. to speak, in speaking : I long, with a play on long in so
long to speak.

67. If what . . . remedy, if what you suggest is not of the nature
of a remedy.

69. Which craves ... execution, to carry out which demands
action as desperate.

71. If, i-e. if, as you say you hare.

74. to chide ... shame, literally to scare away this disgrace by
reproachful M-ords, i.e. to get rid of, escape, this disgrace.

75. That cop'st with death, you who are ready to encounter
death ; the original sense of ' to cope' is ' to bargain with,' then
' to vie with.'

78. yonder. The reading of the first quarto, the remaining
copies giving any, which some editors prefer as being more
forcible.

79. thievish ways, ways in which I am likely to meet with
thieves, robbers.

81. charnel-house, house of -the dead, sepulchre ; from 0. F.
camel, carnal, Lat. caro, flesh.

82. 0"er-cover"d, strewed all over : rattling, sc. in the wind.

83. reeky shanks, legs steaming with putrefaction : chapless,
with their jaws no longer adhering to the rest of the skull, those
jaws being attached only by a cartilage which has been eaten
away by ^\orms.

85. shroud, the garment in which it is customary to wrap the
corpse ; closely allied with shred, i.e. a strip, a piece torn or
cut off.

86. Things . . . tremble, which are things that have made me
shudder merely to hear them spoken about.

91. look that ... alone, take care to sleep alone.

92. Let not . . . chamber, it being customary for attendants to
sleep in the same chamber ; see note on ii. 1. 39.

93. being then in bed, as soon as you have got into bed.

96. A cold . . . humour, a feeling of coldness and drowsiness.

96, 7. for no pulse ... surcease, for the pulse throughout your
body shall no longer V)eat with its usual activity, but shall stop ;
Ms, its, see Abb. § 228 ; surcease is from F. sursis, the p. p. of

186 ROMEO AND JULIET [act iv.

surseoir, to pause, intermit, and has notliing to do with our cease,
though Shakespeare always uses the verb Hiu-cease as a synonym
of that word, and the substantive probably as = cessation (to be)
in Marb. i. 7-4.

100. paly, palish ; the termination -y having a modifying
force : thy eyes' windows, your eyelids ; ' window ' being used by
Shakespeare in regard to eyes rather as that which shuts out the
light rather than that which admits it ; so Cymh. ii. 2. 22,
"would under- peep her lids, To see the enclosed lights, now
canopied Under these loindows."

101. the day of life, that which gives light to life.

102. deprived ... government, deprived of that control which
i-enders it supple, pliant ; supple really belongs to the effect not
to the cause.

103. stark, rigid.

105. forty. Maginn would ve&d. fifty. "Juliet," he remarks,
" retires to bed on Tuesday night at a somewhat early hour.
Her mother says, after she departs, ' 'Tis now near night.' Say
it is eleven o'clock ; forty-two hours from that hour bring us to
five o'clock in the evening of Thursday ; and yet we find the
time of her awakening fixed in profound darkness, and not long
before the dawn. We should allow at least ten hours more, and
read ' two and fifty hours,' which would fix her awakening at three
o'clock in the morning, a time which has been marked in a former
scene as the approach of day. In iv. 4. 4, Capulet says, ' 'tis
three o'clock.' Immediately after he says ' Good faith, 'tis day.'
This observation may appear superfluously minute, but those
who take the pains of reading the play critically will find that it
is dated throughout with a most exact attention to hours. We
can time almost every event." Shakespeare no doubt followed
the story of Rhomeo and Julietta as told in Painter's Palace of
Pleasure, vol. iii. p. 109, Jacob's edn. , where the words are " and
you [shall] abide in such extasie the space of 40 hours at the
least."

108. there art thou dead, there they will find you, to all
appearance, dead.

109-12. Then as the manner ... lie. This custom of carrying
the dead to the grave " uncover'd on the bier" is described
in Brooke's Romeus and Jidiet, and still prevails in Italy.
Knight quotes from Roger's Italy, "And lying on her funeral
couch Like one asleep, her eyelids closed, her hands Folded
together on her modest breast As 'twere her nightly posture,
through the crowd vShe came at last — and richly, gaily clad, As
for a birthday feast."

113. against ... awake, in anticipation of your awaking.

SCENE I.] NOTES. 187

114. our drift, our purpose ; literally that which is driven, and

so the course.

116. watch your waking, watch for the moment of your waking.

119. inconstant toy, freak of caprice ; cp. 0th. iii. 4. 156,
" Pray heaven it be state-matters, as you think, And no concep-
tion nor no jealoiis toy Concerning you." Malone points out that
the phrase in the text is from the poem, Eomeiis and Juliet.

121. tell not me of, do not talk to me about fear, do not
imagine that fear will make me shrink.

122. get you gone, see note on iv. 4. 30.
125. help, a remedy for my misery.

SCEXE II.

2. twenty. " Twenft/ cooJcs for half-adozen guests! Either
Capulet has altered his mind strangely, or Shakespeare forgot
what he had just made him tell us [iii. 4. 27, ' Therefore we '11
have some half-a-dozen friends And there an end '] " (Ritson).

5. try them, test them, see what they are fit for.

6,7. 'tis an ill ..fingers. For this adage Steevens quotes
Puttenham's Arte of EiujU-ih Poesie, "As the old cocke crowes
so doeth the chick : A had cooke that cannot his owne fincfers
lick " ; the licking of the fingers being for the purpose of testing
the food he is cooking.

7, 8. goes not with me, will not be engaged by me.

10. unfumish'd, unprepared ; so used in H. V. i. 2. 148, of

England not prepared for defence.

1 5. my headstrong, sc. one, my obstinate girl : gadding, used
in a contemptuous way, going about from place to place in an
aimless way, as if she was not likely to have any settled or useful
purpose.

16. leam'd me, learned for myself, to my profit ; see Abb.
§ 220.

21. I am ever ruled, i am and ever shall be obedient to your
wishes.

25. hecomed love, becoming, decorous, marks of love ; the pass-
ive participle for the active.

26. Not stepping o'er, without exceeding, transgressing, the,
etc.

30, 1. Now, afore . . . him. A confusion of constructions between
'Now, afore God, all our city is much bound to this reverend
holy friar,' and 'Now, afore God, this I'everend holy friar has
laid the whole city under great obligations ' : afore God, I say it

188 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

in the presence of God, i.e. I call God to wdtness the truth of
what I say. Cp. above, iii. 4. 34.

32. closet, private room, or cupboard, for keeping clothes.

33. To help me sort, to help nie to choose out ; for the omission
of ' to ' before sort, see Abb. § 349. The idiom is still in use
among Scotch people.

34. to furnish me, to dress me, for me to wear ; cp. M. A.
iii. 1. 103, "Come, go in : I '11 show thee some attires, and have
thy counsel Which is the best to furnitih me to-morrow " ; said by
Hei'o to her Nurse on the eve of her marriage.

37. We shall be ... provision, if the wedding takes place a day
before that ali'eady fixed, our arrangements for its celebration
will be incomplete ; provision includes everything necessary for
the feast ; cp. Lear, ii. 4. 208, "I am now from home, and out of
that p7-ovisio)i Which shall be needful for your entertainment."

38. I ■will stir about, I will busy myself in hurrying on the
preparations.

40. to deck up her, in 1. 45, below, we have "prepare him up"
(quartos "prepare up him") and in iv. 4. 25, "trim her up";
and as there is no reason for emphasis here, Lettsom would trans-
pose the adverb and pronoun.

41. let me alone, do not interfere with me, leave me to manage
matters in my own way ; said with a self-satisfied air of confid-
ence in his powers to smooth away all difficulties.

42. I '11 play . . . once, for once and away I will take upon myself
to see to household affairs.

43. They are all forth, all the servants are out of doors, none of

them within call.

45. Against, see note on iii. 4. 32.

46. wayward, perverse ; " originally a headless form of aivei-

ward, adverb Thus vjayward is away-ivard, i.e. turned away,

perverse.... It is a parallel formation to fro-ward. It is now
often made to mean heid on one's jray " ... (Skeat, Ely. Diet.):
reclaim'd, brought to her right senses ; a metaphor from falconry,
in which sport to ' reclaim ' {i.e. to call back) a hawk was to bring
it back to obedience in stooping to the lure ; thus Cotgrave,
" Reclame, a loud calling, whooting, whooping, to make a Hawk
stoop unto the lure"; cp. Haml. ii. 1. 34, "A savageness in
unreclaimed blood. "

Scene III.

1. those attires are best, those are the best dresses, etc., for the
occasion.

SCENE in.] NOTES. 189

3. orisons, prayers ; 0. F. orison, prayer, ultimately from Lat.
orare, to pray.

4. my state, sc. of mind.

5. cross, perverse, not willing to acquiesce in God's will.

7. cull'd, picked out, selected ; Lat. colligere, to collect.

8. behoveful for our state, appropriate to the pomp, splendour,
of to-morrow's ceremony ; such as it behoves us to use ; to
' behove ' is literally to be necessary.

9. So please you, if you will be so good ; provided it pleases
you.

11. full all, thoroughly, very fully, occiipied.

12. In this ... business, in these preparations that have so un-
expectedly come upon us.

14. God knows ...again, possibly we may never meet again.
Juliet is determined to kill herself, rather than marry Paris, if
the potion does not woi'k as the Friar assured her it would, and
at the same time she has a suspicion that the potion may be a
fatal poison.

15. thrills, which thrills ; for the omission of the relative, see
Abb. § 544.

16. the heat of life, the warmth which life sends through the
body ; not the heat that belongs to life.

18. What should .. here ? but what is the use of my calling the
Nurse back ? she can he of no use in that which I have to do.

1 9. My dismal . . alone. Shakespeare's figurative use of terms of
the stage is, as might be expected, very fi'equent ; the words act,
scene, staqe, proloque, j^rt, etc., being thus employed by him.
Cp. e.g. A. Y. L.ii. 7. 139-4.3, " All the world's a stacje. And all
the men and women merely players : They have their exits and
their entrances ; And one man in his time plays many parts, His
acts being seven ages."

21. What if ... all? supposing this mixture has no such effect as
the Friar promised, what will happen then ?

23. forbid, pre\'ent.

Stage Direction. Laying down her dagger. Steevens has shown
that " knives were formerly part of the accoutrement of a bride,"
but it does not follow that the dagger here was such part, for we
have seen above, iv. 1. 62, that she is provided with a "bloody
knife," though without any thought of decking herself for
marriage with Paris.

25. Subtly . . . dead, has cunningly provided in order to make
sure of my death ; to ' minister a poison ' would in modern par-
lance mean rather 'cause it to be taken,' than merely furnish it.

190 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

28. it should not, it is not likely to be.

29. tried, .sv. and proved ; proved by trial, test. After this
line there follows in the first quarto " I will not entertain so bad
a thought," and this has been incorporated by a niajoi'ity of the
editors. Ulrici, however, points out, with great force as it seems
to me, that Juliet's loftiness of resolve and the depth of her love
and fidelity are shown more clearly if her suspicion of the Friar
remains not wholly allayed.

32. a fearful point, a thing terrible to contemplate.

34. To whose ...in, into whose foul mouth no wholesome air
finds its way.

35. strangled, suffocated, choked ; the modern sense of choked
by external compression is more accurate, the word coming from
the Gk. a-rpayyaX-r], a halter.

36. is it not very like. The construction, interrupted here, is
taken up in 1. 45, again interrupted, and finally otherwise shaped
in 1. 49.

37. The horrible ... night, the horrible thoughts of death which
the tomb will force upon me, those thoughts being intensified by
the terror that belongs to night.

38. the terror of the place, the terror which is naturally
inspired by such a place.

39. As in a vault, I finding myself in a vault.

40. this many hundred years, this period of many, etc., though
this gives an idea of vagueness ; so Af. M. i. 3. 21, "this nineteen
years'" ; Macb. v. 5. 37, " Within this three mile" ; Cor. iv. 1. 55,
"but one seven years." Also below, v. 2. 25, v. 3. 175.

41. pack'd, so closely mixed, stored in such numbers ; the num-
ber of the dead, like the antiquity of the place (1. 39) adds to
the horror.

42. yet but ... earth, so lately buried: as we should say
' hardly cold in his grave.'

43. festering, rotting, corrupting.

46. So early waking, waking before daylight has come.

46, 7. what with . . . earth, with the combined effect upon my
senses of the loathsome smells and the shrieking, gibbering, of
the spirits as though they were mandrakes being plucked from
the earth ; what with, as we now say, ' what with one thing and
another,' i.e. such was the result of all the circumstances : man-
drakes, the plant mandragora, supposed to resemble a man's
figure, and sometimes represented with a duck's head (man-drake).
"An inferior degree of animal life," says Nares, " was attributed
to it, and it was commonly supposed that when torn from the

SCENE III.] NOTES. 191

ground it uttered groans of so pernicious a nature that the person
who committed the violence went mad or died. To escape that
danger, it was recommended to tie one end of a string to the
plant and the other to a dog, upon whom the fatal groan would
then discharge its full malignity." It was also said to he especi-
ally found in graveyards in which animals had been buried. The
references to the superstition are frequent in old writers ; and in
ii. H. VI. iii. 2. 310, we have "Would curses kill, as doth the
mandrake's groan, I would invent as bitter- searching terms, As
curst, as harsh and horrible to hear."

49. 0, if I wake, again taking up the construction, and now
completing it : distraught, distracted ; mentally torn asunder,
the feelings, as it were, tearing and rending the frame. So,
Lear, iii. 2. 57, 8, "close pent-up guilts, Eire your concealiiuj
continents," i.e. burst through the bodies in which you are en-
veloped.

51. madly, in my madness.

53. great kinsman's, "compounded like great-nephew, great-
grandfather and the like " (Delius) ; i.e. great in distance of time.

56. spit, thrust through as witli a spit, skewer, on which meat
is roasted ; cp. H. V. iii. 3. 38, " Your naked infants spitted upon
pikes."

57. stay, Tybalt, stay, "she does not call upon Tybalt to
remain, but to hold. In her vision she imagines he is going to
hurt Romeo " (Delius).

58. this do . . . thee, I pledge you in this potion.

Stage Directiox. within the curtains. ' ' Some explanation
of the business of the old stage may perhaps here be necessary.
The space ' within the curtains ' where Juliet's bed is placed,
was the space at the back of the stage proper, beneath the raised
stage or gallery which served for a balcony, or the walls of a
besieged town as the case required ; this was divided from the
stage proper by a traverse or curtain. The curtain closing before
Juliet's bed, the stage was now supposed to represent a hall in
Capulet's house (Sc. 4) where Capulet busies himself with the
preparations for the wedding. On his hearing of the arrival of
Paris he summons the Nurse to call forth Juliet, which, he being
gone, she proceeds to do, and opening the curtains the scene
again becomes Juliet's chamber (Sc. 5) where she is discovered
dead apparently on her bed. After the general lamentations
which take place on this occasion, ' They all but the Nurse goe
foorth casting Rosemary on her (Juliet) and shutting the curtens '
(Q 1) ; and then follows the scene with Peter and the Musicians,
the stage then again being supposed a hall or some other apart-
ment in Capulet's house " (Daniel).

192 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Scene IV.

2. pastry, the room in which paste {i.e. dough baked for the
outside of pies, etc.) is made ; formed on the same analogy as
pantry, a room in which bread (Lat. pnnix, bread,) was kept,
buttery, (i.e. bottlery), a room in which the bottling of wine was
done, .ipicery, a place where spices were kept. We now use the
word less correctly for the paste itself.

3. the second . . . crow'd, the cock has crowed a second time.

4. The curfew-'bell, i. e. the bell for covering or putting out the
fires, was formerly rung at night, in the summer at nine, in the
winter at eight, o'clock ; and elsewhere Shakespeare uses the
word in its propeHtgignification. It has therefore been supposed
that in the presesn instance what is meant is tliat the same bell
which was used for the curfew was now rung as the morning
bell, i.e. as the signal to get up and light the fires.

5. baked meats, meat baked in pastry : whether Angelica is
Lady Capulet or the Nurse is uncertain.

6. Spare not for cost, do not be sparing, stingy, on account of
the expense ; do not count the cost of what you provide : COt-
quean, a busy-body in household affairs ; the derivation of the
first element of the word is uncertain ; -quean, according to
Skeat, is " absolutely the same word as queen, the original sense
being ' woman.' " By some editors this speech is given to Lady
Capulet as being one that the Nurse would not venture to make
to her master ; but Dyce points out that in the first quarto
Capulet's answer is "I warrant thee Nurse I have ere now
Avatcht," etc. Others suppose that considerable latitude of
speech was allowed to a servant who had so long been in the
family.

7. siek, ill.

8. watching, keeping awake ; as very frequently in Shakespeare.

11. a mouse-hunt, one who runs after women.

12. But I ... now, but I will take care that you do not sit up
all night for such purposes now.

13. A jealous-hood, wliat, you are jealous of me, are yoii ?
jealous-hood, jealousy ; the abstract for the concrete.

17, 8. I have a head, ... matter, I have a head on my shoulders
(i.e. I have plenty of sense) and shall be able to find out whei-e
the logs are without troubling Peter in the matter ; cp. the
Nurse's compliment to herself, i. 3. 29, " Nay, I do bear a brain."

19. Mass, by the mass. i.e. the sacrament of the Eucharist.

20. Thou Shalt he logger-hea,d, we'll call you logger-head,
since you boast yourself so keen in finding out logs ; logger-head,

SCENE IV.] NOTES. 193

i.q. lori-head, like block-head, though, as Skeat points out, it is
difficult to account for the syllable -er. Possibly the word was
originally ' /ogr/at-hend,' /oggats or lof/gefs being small blocks of
wood thrown at fruit which could not otherwise be got at.

21. music, i.e. the band of musicians who were to play the
" hunt's-up" to awaken the bride on the wedding morning ; see
note on iii. 5. 34 ; the word in this sense occurs frequently in
Shakespeare : straight, straightway, immediately.

26. tlie bridegroom he. For the insertion of the pronoun, see
Abb. § 243.

Scene V

1. fast, sc. asleep.

2. slug-abed, slug in a bed, lazy creature ; ' slug ' being often
used as a type of laziness from its sleepy motion. The word
here; however, seems like a coinage of the Nurse, a compound of
" sluggard ' and ' lie-abed.'

4. Marry, and amen, by the Virgin, blessed be her name ;
amen, so be it, said as though in invoking the Virgin she had
imi^lied a blessing on her name ; the phrase occurs again in
i. FT. IV. ii. 4. 128, though in the not very pious mouth of
Falstaff.

6. take . . bed, catch you asleep.

7. Will it not be ? can't I wake you ?

8. down again, lying down again after you have got up and
dressed.

9. I must ... you, I can't let you sleep on, however tired you
may be.

11. well-a-day, see note on iii. 2. 28.

13. Wliat noise is here ? what is the reason of all this noise
here ?

14. heavy, sorrowful, lamentable.

15. my only life, you who are everything in life to me.
18. For shame, why is there all this delay ?

21. out, alas ! Here out intensifies the exclamation of grief, and
has much the same sense of completeness as in Temp. iv. 1. 101,
" And be a boy right out " ; Cor. iv. 5. 127, " thou hast beat me
out Twelve several times." Shakespeare has the phrase often,
e.g. M. W. iv. 5. 64, W. T. iv. 4. 110, and in 0th. v. 2. 119,
"Out, and a/a.s.'"

22. is settled, no longer flows freely in her veins.

28. Ties up... speak. As Capulet immediately afterwards
breaks out into a passionate lament, Malone supposes that

N

194 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

Shakespeare, when writing this line, had in his mind the poem
of Bonieus and Julief, in which, though the mother makes a long
speech, the father does not utter a word. But it was possible
for Capulet to be struck dumb at first and afterwards to find his
voice.

29. Come . . . church ? Staunton would give this line to Paris,
on the ground that at this juncture the Friar is too critically-
placed to be anxious to lead the conversation. He thinks, too,
that Capulet's answer tends to show tliat Paris had asked the
question. To me it seems clear that Capulet, in the first line of
his speech, briefly answers the Friar's question, and then turns
to Paris in the words " 0 son," etc. The Friar had good reason
to be anxious to find out whether his potion had had its effects ;
and Dyce well asks, " Would the deeply-enamoured Paris speak
of his Juliet merely as ' the bride ' ? "

36. living, my possessions, property ; cp. W. T. iv. 3. 104,
" within a mile where my land and liniKj lies " ; M. V. iii. 2. 158,
V. i. 286. Capell made the unnecessary conjecture 'life-leaving/
and has been followed by some editors.

37. thought long, been long and eagerly expecting.

41. In lasting labour, in the long toil ; perhaps witli an allu-
sion to labour in tlie sense of 'pangs of childbirth,' as in A. G.
iii. 7. 81, "With news the time's with labour and throes forth.
Each minute, some."

42. one poor. It seems doubtful wliether he means ' ill fated
wretcli that she was,' or ' one only ' ; but in the following words,
one poor and loving child, poor is certainly used in the latter
sense, as in V. A. 207, " What were thy lips the worse for one
poor kiss ? " and Cor. v. 1. 27, "For one jioor grain or two."

43. to ... solace in, to find comfort in ; cp. Cymb. i. 6. 86, "To
hide me from the radiant sun, and solace I' the dungeon by a
snuff."

44. catch'd, a form of the participle used again in L. L. L. v.
2. 69, A. W. i. 3. 176, and of the past tense in Cor. i. 3. 68.

45. 0 woe, . . . day. In this and the two following speeches,
Grant White thinks that Shakespeare was probably ridiculing
the translation of Seneca's tragedies, published in 1581. But
the lines do not seem out of place in the mouth of the speakers.

51. Beguiled, cheated ; as more commonly in Shakespeare.
Nowadays the word more generally means to deceive pleasingly,
to drive away anything unpleasant by an agreeable delusion ;
and in this sense also Shakespeare uses it, though less fi-equentlj'.

54. not life ... death, not 'my life,' as I have so often called
you, but still in death my loved one.

55. Despised, treated by Fate with contumely : distressed,

SCENE v.] NOTES. 195

r.fflictetl, a stronger sense than the word now usually has and
closer to its Latin source districts, torn asunder, sc. by grief.

56. Uncomfortable, cheerless, joyless ; but with more of an
active force than the word now has, and similar to "discomfort-
able" in B. II. iii. 2. 36, " Discomfortable cousin ! "

57. our solemnity, see note on i. 5. 59.

5S. not my child, no longer to be called 'my child.'

61, 2. Confusion's ... confusions, the ciu-e of such a terrible
sorrow has no being in such tumultuous abandonment to grief ;
confusion is used in two senses here, the trouble that confounds,
paraJyses, us, and the frantic disorder consequent upon that
trouble. For lives Lettsom would read lies, but the former word
seems much more expressive and forcible, 'has no vitality, no
principle of life and efficacy. '

63." Had part in, shared in.

65. keep from death, preserve from death, hold back from
death when it laid its grasp upon her.

66. But heaven . life, but heaven preserves his share in her in
life eternal.

67. her promotion, her rise in life by marriage with the prince's
kinsman.

68. your heaven, your highest idea of happiness and glory.

71. in this love .. ill, this manner of showing your love does
not evidence any true love, any love worthy of the name.

72. is well, is at rest, is in happiness ; a frequent euphemism
for being dead. Cp. A. G. ii. 5. 33, where, in answer to the
Messenger's report that Antony " is well," Cleopatra says, "But,
sirrah, mark, we use To say the dead art icelV ; also W. T. v. 1.
30, Mach. iv. 3. 179.

75. rosemary, a hei-b commonly used at funerals as an emblem
of immortality, from being an evergreen, and of lasting affection,
it being supposed to strengthen the memory. See above, ii. 4.
219.

77. In all ... church, see note on iv. 1. 109-12.

78. fond, over-loving ; see note on iii. 3. 52.

79. Yet nature's ... merriment, yet the tears which natural
affection bids us shed are laughed at by reason, are, if viewed in
the ' dry ' light of reason, a mere weakness.

80. festival, for the purpose of festivity ; an adjective, as is
funeral in the next line ; for the former, cp. A'. J. iii. 1. 76,
" this blessed day Ever in France shall be kept /es^ica^ "; for the
latter, J. C. iii. 1. 245, " You shall not in your funeral speech
blame us."

196 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv.

81. their office, their proper use.

8,S. a sad burial feast. This custom, derived from the Romans,
still obtains in Ireland amo7ig the lower classes, and the feast is
called a 'wake,' i.e. a vigil, or sometimes, from a misunder-
standing of that term, ' a waking of the dead.'

84. dirges, mournful chants ; from the Lat. dirige, direct,
guide, the first word of a ohaunt used by Catholics at the burial
service, from Psalms, v. 8, " Dirige, Dominus mens, in conspectu
tuo vifam meam," "Guide my life, 0 Lord, in Thy siglit " :
sullen, originally meaning ' solitary,' tlien ' morose,' ' gloomy.'

85. serve for, are used as a decoration for.
88. every one prepare, let every one prepare.

90. lour, frown ; see note on ii. 5. 6 ; ill, evil deed.

92. put up our pipes, sc. in their cases, preparatory to going
away.

95. the case... amended. The Musician pretending to take the
Nurse's word case as referring to the case of his instrument,
answei's. Yes, in truth, it might be a better one. Delius com-
pares a similar pun in W. T. iv. 4. 844, "though my case be a
pitiful one, I hope I sliall not be flayed out of it."

96. ' Heart's ease,' a popular tune at the time.

97. have me live, see me lively, in good spirits.

99, 100. My heart . . woe. " The burthen of the first stanza of
A Pleasant New Ballad of Two Lovers : ' Hey hoe ! my heart is
full of woe ' " (Steevens) : dump, a melancholy strain in music ;
said to be used also for a dance. Tlie colloquialism ' in the
dumps,' i.e. in a dismal humour, may still be heard. Of course
Peter's merry is an intentional contradiction of terms, as
Staunton points out.

105. give it you soundly, pay you out well for refusing to play.

107. gleek. ' To give the gleek,' said to be taken from an old
game at cards called gleel', was to scorn or flout, and by some
there is supposed to be a pun on the word gleeman or gligman, a
minstrel.

109. win I give you the serving- creature, I will retort by
calling you serving-creature.

110, 1. Then will I ... pate, my reply to your insult will be a
blow on your head with my dagger : I will carry no crotchets, I
will put up with no insults, endure none of your caprices ; with
a pun on crotchets in its musical use = a quaver.

111,2. I Ii re you ... me, I'll play a pretty tune on yo\ir head
with my dagger. A similar figure of speech from music is ' I'll
beat you into fiddle-strings.' re, fa, the names given in the
Binging of the notes of the gamut or scale in music to the notes

SCENE v.] " NOTES, 197

D and F ; note, of course with a pun on ' note,' = pay attention
to what I say, and ' note ' in music.

114. put out, extinguish, have done with.

116. Ttien have at you with my wit, then here goes for a blow

at you with my wit.

123. Catling', or catgut, the intestines of sheep from which the
strings of string instruments are made.

125. Rebeck, a three-stringed iiddle ; cp. L' Allegro, 94, "And
the jocund i-ebecl's sound. "

126, 7. sound for silver, play for money.

130. I cry you mercy, I beg your pardon for asking you : you
are the singer, sc. and tlierefore cannot be expected to answer
for the musicians.

130, 1. I will say for you, I will answer myself in your stead.

135. pestilent knave, insolent and troublesome fellow.

136. Jack, see note on ii. 4. 121.

136, 7. tarry for the mourners, wait here till the funeral
procession conies forth and then accompany it to the grave. The
propriety of this scene has been much debated. Coleridge thinks
that as the audience knew that Juliet was not dead, " it is,
perhaps, excusable," though not a thing to be imitated by
inferior hands. Knight thus defends it : " Rightly understood,
it appears to us that the scene requires no apology. It was the
custom of our ancient theatre to introduce in the irregular pauses
of a play that stood in the place of a division into acts, some
short diversion, such as a song, a dance, or the extempore
buffoonery of a clown. At this point of Eomeo and Juliet there
is a natural pause in the action, and at this point such an inter-
lude would probably have been presented whether Shakspere had
written one or not. The stage direction in the second quarto
puts this matter, as it appears to us, beyond a doubt. That
direction says, ' Enter Will Kempe,' and the dialogue innnedi-
ately begins between Peter and the musicians. Will Kempe
was the Liston of his day ; and Mas as great a popular favourite
as Tarleton had been before him. It was wise, therefore, in
Shakspere to hnd some business for Will Kempe, that should
not be entirely out of harmony with the great business of his
play. This scene of the musicians is very sliort, and, regarded
as a necessary part of the routine of the ancient stage, is ex-
cellently managed. Nothing can be more naturally exhibited
than the indifference of hirelings, without attacliment, to a
family scene of grief. Peter and the musicians bandy jokes ;
and, although the musicians think Peter ' a pestilent knave,'
perhaps for his inopportune sallies, they are ready enough to
look after their own gratification, even amidst the sorrow which

198 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act iv. sc. v.

they see arounrl them. A wedding or a burial is the same to
them. ' Come, we'll in here — tarry for the mourners, and stay
dinner.' So Shakspere read the course of the woidd — and it is
not much changed." In Clarke's opinion, too, "the intention
was to show how grief and gaiety, pathos and absurdity, sorrow
and jesting, elbow each other in life's crowd ; how the calamities
of existence fall heavily upon the souls of some, while others,
standing close beside the grievers, feel no jot of suffering or
sympathy"... . The grave-digger in Hamlet, the porter in Mac-
beth, and the clown in Othello are equally jocose amid scenes not
less tragic, and the hired mourners at a modern funeral would
hardly be libelled by a comparison with Peter and the musicians,
except that their wit would probably have less wit in it. "

Act V. Scene I.

1. If I may . . . sleep, if I may take for truth the encouraging
vision that sleep has shown me, a vision that, however, may be
merely illusive. A great deal has been written as to the con-
tradiction of terms in flattering truth ; but Romeo seems to
mean nothing more than that he hardly dares to trust a dream
so unexpectedly favourable to his hopes, just as, in ii. 2. 139-41,
Juliet says, " I am afraid. Being in night, all this is but a dream,
Too flattering-sweet to be substantial." The first quai^to gives
'flattering e?/e,' which many editors adopt, explaining "the
visions with which my eye flattered me during sleep," or taking
' eye ' for view, prospect. The conjectures are as numerous as
they generally are when there is no need for them, and include
"soother,' 'sooth of,' 'signs of,' 'toys of,' 'breath of,' 'birth of,'
' vouch of, ' and, most monstrous of all, ' death of, ' due to Collier's
MS. Corrector.

3. My bosom's lord, my love ; cp. T. N. ii. 4. 22, " It gives a
very echo to the seat Where Love is throned " : in ; on, as
frequently.

4. an unaccustom'd spirit, a frame of mind diiTerent to that
which had been his ever since he began to love, and especially
different from that in which, i. 4. 10611, he had presaged the
terrible consequences that actually follow.

5. Lifts me ... ground, makes me ' tread on air,' as we say.

6. I dreamt ... dead, cp. Juliet's foreboding, iii. 5. 55, 6.

7. that gives ... think, in which it is possible for a dead man to
think.

8. in, within, into.

9. an emperor, not, I think, literally, but in the sense of the
happiest and most glorious of mortals.

10. possess'd, when actually enjoyed.

ACT V. sc. 1.] KOTES. 199

17. is well, is at peace in death ; a frequent euphemism ; cp.
ii. H. IV. V. 2..Z, A. C. ii. 5. 33.

18. in Capel's monument, in the family vault of the Capulets ;
for monument in this sense, cp. above, iii. 5. 203. As INIalone
points out, Shakespeare found Capd and Capulet used indis-
criminately in Romeus and Juliet.

21. took post, hurried off; literally mounted a post-horse.
^^ Post 'originally signified a fixed place, as a military post;
then, a fixed place on a line of road where horses are kept for
travelling, a stage, or station ; thence it was transferred to the
person who travelled in this way, using relays of horses, and
finally to any quick traveller ' ; Eastwood and Wright, Bible
Wordbook" (Skeat, Ely. Diet.). For- the word = a post-horse,
cp. ii." H. IV. iv. 3. 40, " I have foundered [i.e. exhausted) nme
score and odd jwsts."

23. it, the task of bringing you news.

24. defy, renounce, reject, refuse to believe in you any longer.
Cp. K. J. iii. 4. 23, "I defy all counsel, all redress." The later
quartos and the folios give deny, the meaning of which would be
much the same.

27. have patience, compose yourself.

28, 9. do import ... misadventiire, indicate some terrible pur-
pose in your mind.

32. No matter, it does not matter, signify : get thee gone, see
note on iv. 1. 122.

33. those horses, sc. that I just now spoke of.

35. Let 's see for means, let me consider how to find means to
efifect.my purpose.

38. a', see note on ii. 4. 120 : noted, marked, noticed.

39. weeds, clothes ; from " A.S. wcede, neut., also ivdd, fem.,
a garment ... literally something which is wound or wrapped
round, exactly as ' 2veed wide enough to icrap a fairy in,' Shake-
speare, M. N. D. ii. 1. 256" (Skeat, Ety. Diet.) : overwhelming
brows, bushy, hanging, eyebrows ; see note on " beetle-brows,"
above, i. 4. 32.

40. Culling of. For ' of ' following a verbal noun, see Abb.
§ 178 : meagre, thin and pinched.

41. to the hones, so that there was nothing left of him but
skin and bones ; to expressing the result.

42. needy, scantily furnished : a tortoise, like the " alligator"
and " ill-shaped fishes," symbols of his profession formerly hung-
up in an apothecary's shop, just as nowadays we see the huge
bottles of coloured water in the windows of a chemist's shop.

43. alligator, the sharp-nosed crocodile, the magar of Indian

200 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

rivers as contrasted with the nari/al, or snub-nosed crocodile ;
literally ' the lizard,' i.e. the lizard jxir excdlenca, from Span, el,
the, Ar. at, and lagarto, lizard, Lat. lacerta.

44. ill-sliaped, strange-shaped, and therefore more attractive
of notice : about his shelves, here and there on his shelves.

45. A beggarly account, a poor and scanty store.

47. old cakes of roses, dried petals of roses (sold for scenting
clothes, etc.) which had become caked together from so long
remaining untouched.

50. An if, see Abb. § 103.

51. Whose sale . . . Mantua, the sale of which is in Mantua
punished with immediate death.

52. a caitiff wretch, a miserable creature ; caitifi, from Lat.
captivus, a captive, prisoner, then a mean-looking, miserable,
being ; now used as a substantive only : would, the relative
omitted.

53. this same . . . need, this thought of mine, as I now see, did
but anticipate the need in wliich 1 stand at this moment.

54. must, is destined to.

55. As I remember, if my memory is right : should be, ought
to be.

56. Being holiday, it being a holiday.

59. Hold, liere, take : there is forty ducats, for the singular
inflection preceding a plural subject, see Abb. § 3.35 ; ducats, a
coin so called from the inscription it bore, "Sit tibi, Christe,
datus Queni tu regis iste Ducatus," D^icaius meaning a Duchy,
and thence a coin struck Ijy a Duke. Its value seems to have
varied at different times from three shillings and fourpence to
four shillings and twopence.

_ 60. A dram, here probably the amount in weight, i.e. the
eighth part of an ounce; see note on iii. 5. 91 ; such... gear,
such quickly operative stuff ; for gear, see note on ii. 4. 89.

63. the trunk, the body ; literally a piece cut off, from Lat.
truncm, maimed, mutilated ; hence often for the body witliout
the limbs : dischariged, freed, liberated ; for the sake of the
simile from a cannon.

64. hasty, that blazes up eagerly on a spark being applied to
it. In J. G. iii. 4. 112, Shakespeare uses the epithet of fire
struck out of a flint and immediately vani-shing ; "0 Cassias,
you are yoked with a lamb That carries anger as the flint bears
fire ; Who, much enforced, shows a hasty spark, And straight is
cold again."

66. mortal, fatal.

67. to any he, so he for him, Haml. i. 2. 104, " From the first

SCENE I.] NOTES. 201

corse till he that died to-day,' where till is a proposition : utters,
sells ; " is a regular frequentative form of the M. E. oufen, to put
out, and means to keep on putting out" ... (Skeat, Ety. Did.) ;
so to * utter' {i.e. circulate) spurious coin.

68. bare, sc, of all comforts.

69. And ffear st, and yet fear.

70. Need... eyes, the hungry look in your eyes declares only
too plainly that want and oppression have brought you close to
starvation ; stareth, start in, and starteth have been conjectured
for starveth, but are immeasurably less forcible ; Need and
oppression is little more than a hendiadys - oppressive need, and
the compound idea hence has a singular verb. See also Abb.
§ 336.

71. Contempt ... back, beggary, that subject of men's scorn,
shows itself in your tattered clothes. Here again the idea is
compound.

72. is not thy friend, does nothing to befriend you.

73. affords, furnishes.

76. I pay . . . will, then consider that it is your poverty and not
your will that accepts this payment, and so satisfy your con-
scientious scruples ; consider that your will is no free agent, it
being so completely under the constraint of poverty.

77. you will, you choose.

79. dispatch, a euphemism for ' kill.'

80. thy gold, the gold I offered you.

80-2. worse poison . . . sell, cp. Timon's language when coming
upon gold as he digs for roots, Tim. iv. 3. 30 et seqq.

83. I sell thee . . . none, compared to the gold you receive in
exchange, your drug is nothing of a poison.

84. get thyself in flesh, set j'ourseLf into good condition of
body, eat heartily and put on flesh.

85. cordial, used of anything that comforts and gladdens the
heart ; Lat. cordi-, from cor, heart, w itli suffix -alis : go with me,
as if he were addressing some familiar friend.

Scene II.

1. Holy Franciscan friar. " Friar Laurence and his associates
must be supposed to belong to the Franciscan order of friai's. In
his kindliness, his learning, and his inclination to mix with and,
perhaps, control tlie aifairs of the world he is no unapt repre-
sentative of one of this distinguished order in its best days...
Warton says the Franciscans ' managed the machines of every
important operation or event, both in the religious and political

202 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

world ' " (Knight). The Franciscan orders include the three
orders of the Minorites and all the less important associations
who trace their rule to St. Francis of Assisi. The rule originally
prescribed by St. Francis was very strict, and, rigidly enforced,
would have made all the members of the order pious beggars. It
soon became one of the most important of the mediajval monastic
orders, and produced a long array of distinguished theologians
and churchmen.

3, 4. what says . . . letter. The two alternatives, if they had
exactly corresponded in form, would liave been either ' tell me
what Romeo says, or, if he has written, let me see what his
letter contains,' or, ' what does Romeo say, or, if he has written,
what does he write ? let me see his letter. '

5. a bare-foot brotLer, a member of our order, who, as our
rules enjoin, goes barefooted in his walks.

6, 7. to associate me . . . sick, to accompany me in my visits to
the sick. " Eacli friar," says Steevens, " has always a companion
assigned him by the Superior [of the Monastery] when he asks
leave to go out ; and thus, says Baretti, they are a check upon
each other." Gp. Webster, The Devil's Law-Case, iii. 3, "mis-
chiefs are like the visits of Franciscan friars, They never come to
prey upon us sinrfle." Malone, though he afterwards withdrew
the conjecture, wished to transpose 11. 7 and 8. The construc-
tion is made sufficiently harsh by the nominative finding Mm
without any finite verb, but the searchers of the town clearly
goes with suspecting, nut with visiting. For the participle used
with a nominative absolute, see Abb. § 376.

8. the searchers of the town, those appointed to find out what
houses were infected by the plague and to prevent all communica-
tion with them. Malone points out that in Romeus and Juliet
the plague is represented as raging at Verona, not at Mantua.

9. were in a house, belonged to a convent ; house, i.e. religious
house.

11. Seal'd up the doors, piit the official seal upon the doors,
thus marking the house as one not to be entered from the outside
or quitted by its inmates.

12. So that ... stay'd, so that the haste I should have made to
go to Mantua was prevented by my being confined thei'e.

14. here it is again, I now return it to you.

16. they, the messengers I wished to employ.

17. by my brotherhood, I swear by my holy order.

18. nice, trivial, of slight importance; cp. above, iii. 1. 159:
full of charge, of weighty consequence.

19. dear, precious, vital, important.

SCENE II.] NOTES. 203

21. crow, crowbar ; to wreuch open the tomb ; straight, im-
mediately.

25. this three hours, see note on iv. 3. 40.
2G. beshrew, reproach ; literally 'curse.'

27. accidents, events, sc. the interruption of communication
owing to the plague.

Scene III.

Stage Direction. A churchyard. "It is clear that Shake-
speare, or some writer whom he followed, had in mind the
churchyard of Saint Mary the Old in Verona, and the monument of
the Scaligers which stood in it. We bave nothing in England
which corresponds to this scene, and no monument or vault in
which such scenes as this could be exhibited " .. (Hunter).

1 . aloof, away, at a distance ; ' ' from a, prep. + loof, luff,
weather-gage, windward direction ; perhaps immediately from
Du. locf, in te loef, to the windward"... (Murray, Eng. Diet.).

2. Yet, contradicting his first order to give him the torch.

3. lay ... along, lie do\ra at full length.

4. Holding . . . ground, iu which position the tread of any one
approaching would be more easily heard ; hollow, and therefore
more readily reverberating to any sound ; so 7'. S., Ind. ii. 48,
" And fetch shrill echoes from the hollow earth."

6. Being, it being.

7. But thou ... it, without your hearing it.

10. to stand alone, to be alone ; there being no reference to his
standing or his lying down as directed by Paris.

13. canopy, covering ; from " Gk. KcovcoTreitov, Kuvw-irtiov, an
Egyptian bed with mosquito curtains. — Gk. kuvcott-, stem of
KwvtdiJ/, a great mosquito; literally 'cone-faced,' or an animal
with a cone-shaped head, from some resemblance to a cone. —
Gk. Koivos, a cone ; and dixj;, a face, appearance" ... (Skeat, Efy.
Diet.) : is dust and stones, i.e. not a fitting canopy for one like
you.

14. Which, sc. the " bridal bed " : Bweet water, scented, per-
fumed, water.

15. distill'd by moans, forced from the eyes by grief.

16. obsequies, funeral rites ; Lat. ohnequice, funeral rites,
literally ' following close upon ' : keep, observe, pay.

9. cursed, because interrupting him.

20. To cross my obsequies, to hinder the obsequies I am paying.

21. Muffle, wrap me in darkness ; Steevens compares the word,
used in a neuter sense, Covms, 330, " Unmuffle, ye faint stars" ;

204 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

and Dyce points out that a ' muffler ' " is a sort of wrapper worn
by women, which generally covered the mouth and chin, but
sometimes almost the whole face." In M. W. iv. 2. 73, one is
produced by Mrs. Ford to disguise FalstafF in.

22. mattock, a kind of pick-axe for tearing up the earth.

26. all aloof, quite away ; so that he might not witness what
was done.

28. Why I descend, my reason for descending.

32. In dear employment, in a matter of the greatest im-
portance ; " ' dear ' is used of whatever touches us nearly either
in love or hate, joy or sorrow" (CI. Pr. Edd. on Haml. i. 2. 182,
" my dearest foe ").

33. jealous, suspicious ; cp. Lear, i. 4. 75, " which I have
rather blamed as mine own jealous curiosity."

34. shall intend to do, may have an intention of doing ; shall
indicating some further intention he certainly will have.

35. joint by joint, piecemeal, each joint from the other.

36. hungry, as though the churchyard was for ever longing for
fresh corpses, never satisfied however many might be buried in it.

37. The time ... savage-wild, the thoughts in my mind are wild
even to savageness and this midnight hour well accords with
them.

39. empty, starving.

41. that, giving him money.

43. For all this same, in spite of all these injunctions and
threats.

44. His looks I fear, not as regards his own per.sonal safety,
but as regards Romeo's intentions against himself.

45. Detestable. Accented on the first syllable, as in iv. 5. 56,
K. J. iii. 4. 29.

48. And, in despite ... food, out of hatred to you, not to satisfy
your gluttonous voracity, I will cram you with my own body also.

50. with which grief, owing to which grief.
52. is come, the omission of the nominative is most common
with ' has,' 'is,' ' was ' ; see Abb. § 400.

55. Can vengeance . . . death ? is it possible that you are not
satisfied with the vengeance you have already taken in killing
Tybalt ? a particular, not a general, question.

56. Condemned, not merely condemned by law, but accursed
for his intentions.

58. therefore, for that very purpose.

59. Good gentle youth. " The gentleness of Romeo was shown

SCENE III.] NOTES. ^ 205

before as softened by love, and now it is doubled by love and
sorrow, and awe of the place where he is " (Coleridge).

60. gone, dead ; an euphemism,

61. Let them affright thee, let their deaths deter you from
such a rash act as that of seizing a man so desperate as myself.

62. another sin, i.e. of killing him.

67. A madman's . . . away, a madman in a lucid interval of mercy
bade you run away, and thus you escaped to tell the tale.

68. conjurations, earnest appeals, entreaties ; cp. R. II. iii. 2.
23, H. V. i. 2. 29 ; the ^^erb in this sense is common enough.

70. have at thee, see note on i. 1 . 59.

71. the watch, the police, as we should now say.

74. peruse, examine closely ; originally meaning to use
thoroughly or carefully.

76. betossed, stonm-tossed, violently agitated.

77. attend him, pay heed to his words.

78. should have, was to have ; see Abb. § 325.

81. To think, in thinking ; the infinitive used indefinitely.

82. One writ . . . hook, one, like myself, entered as a debtor in
misfortiTue's account-book ; or perhaps only enrolled in the list of
the unfortunate.

83. triumphant, glorious, splendid ; cp. A. C. ii. 2. 189, "a
most trmmphant lady."

84.- a lantern. "A spacious round or octagonal turret full of
windows, by means of which cathedrals, and sometimes halls, are
illuminated. See the beautiful lantern at Ely Minster " (Steevens).

86. a feasting presence, a stateroom in all the splendour of a
feast ; cp. E. II. i. 3. 289, "Suppose ... The grave whereon thou
tread'st tlie presence strewed " ; H. VIII. iii. 1. 17, " the two
great cardinals ^Yait in the presence."

87. Death, the abstract for the concrete ; Lettsom conjectures
Dead, and Dyce so reads : a dead man, sc. himself, whom he now
regards as nothing better than dead.

89. keepers, attendants.

90. A lightning before death. "A proverbial phrase, partly
deduced from observation of some extraordinary effort of nature,
often made in sick persons just before death ; and partly from a
superstitious notion of an ominous and preternatural mirth,
supposed to come on at that period, without any ostensible
reason." So in Addison's pathetic description of Sir Roger's
death, Spectator 'No. 115, "Indeed we were once in great hope

206 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

of his recovery, upon a kind message that was sent him from the
widow lady whom he had made love to the forty last years of his
life ; but this only proved a lightning before death."

90-2. How may I ... Death, but my merry mood (sc. as exhibited
in 1. 89) has none of the brightness which lights up the minds of
dying men : the honey . . . breath, j'our honeyed breath ; cp.
Haml. iii. 1. 164, "That swk'd the honey of his music vows."

93. no power . . . upon, no power to deface.

94, 5. beauty's ensign ... cheeks, beauty's ensign, the roseate
flush of youth and health, still flies proudly in your cheeks ; a
metaphor from a flag flying bravely on the walls of a fortress
that defies its besiegers.

96. is not advanced there, has not yet been able to displace the
ensign of your beauty ; advanced, a technical term for the waving
of standards, as in J/. JV. iii. 4. 85, "I must adrance the colours
of my love. And not retire;" K. J. ii. 1. 207," These flags of
France, that are advanced here Before the eye and prospect of
your town."

97. sheet, winding-sheet, in which it is customary to wrap a
corpse, as in iii. H. VI. i. 1. 129, ii. 5. 114.

101. Forgive me, cousin. " Inexpressibly beautiful and moving
is this gentleness of Romeo's in his death hour. His j'earning to
be at peace with his foe, his beseeching pardon of him and calling
him kinsman in token of final atonement, his forbearance and
even magnanimity towards Paris, his words of closing considera-
tion and kindly farewell to his faithful Balthasar, all combine to
crown Romeo as the prince of youthful gentlemen and lovers "
(Clarke).

103. unsubstantial, immaterial, incorporeal ; cp. Lear. iv. 1. 7,
" Thou unsubstantial air that I embrace."

107. this palace of dim night, the darkness of the tomb.

109. thy chamber-maids, your attendants ; in Hamlet the
imagery regarding worms is of a very difi'erent type ; see iv. 2.
20 et seqq.

110. Will I set up ... rest, I am determined to find my last long
home. The origin of the phrase ' to set up one's rest ' has been
much debated. According to Steevens, it is taken fi'om the
manner of firing the harquebuses, which was so hea^'y that a
supporter, called a rest, was fixed in the ground before the piece
was levelled to take aim. Others derive it from a term used in
games at cards, more particularly primero, in which the rest was
the stake laid down, and ' to set up one's rest ' was to announce
the highest stake that the player was prepared to make on the

SCENE III.] NOTES. 207

cards he held in his hand. Probably the two ideas were com-
bined to express a settled resolution.

Ill, 2. And shake ... flesh, and, weary as I am of life, no longer
submit to be driven hither and thither as my ill-starred fate may
choose.

115. A dateless ... death, an eternal bargain with death that
sooner or later seizes on everything ; dateless is here used in a
legal sense ; and in JR. II. i. 2. 151, "The sly slow hours shall
not determinate The dateless limit of thy dear exile," both "date-
less " and "determinate" are allusive to the same phraseology :
so too engrossing in the sense of purchasing or seizing in the
gross.

116. conduct, conductor ; as above, iii. 1. 120 ; here the drug
he is about to swallow. Possibly, from the combination of con-
duct, pilot, and bark, Shakespeare, as in R. III. i. 4. 46, was
thinking of Charon, the ferryman of souls over the river Styx,
called by the Greeks veKpoTroiiircJs, or »j/v\OTro[Ji.irds, conductor of
the dead.

118. sea-sick, life being commonly compared to an ocean.

119. true, sc. in having said that the effect of the drug would
be instantaneous, and perhaps with the sense of his being a true
physician of his (Romeo's) evils.

121. be my speed, guide and help me.

122. stumbled. In those days of omens considered an unlucky
accident ; so in R. III. iii. 4. 86, Hastings, when on his way to
death, after speaking of an ill dream of Stanley's, continues,
" Three times to-day my foot-cloth horse did stumble. And
startled, when he look'd upon the Tower, As loath to bear me to
the slaughter-house " ; on which Tawney quotes Melton's A xtrolo-
gaster, " That if a man stumbles in the morning, as soon as he
comes out of doores, it is a sign of ill lucke."

125. yond, that which I see yonder.

126. grubs, insects, worms, etc. : as I discern, as well as I can
judge.

132. My master ... hence, my master fancies I have gone home.

135. Fear, not the physical fear of some danger to himself, but
a presentiment of some evil befallen Romeo.

1.37-9. As I did sleep ... him. Balthasar believes that what he
had actually seen was nothing but a dream, or possibly he may
not like to confess that he really witnessed the combat.

142. masterless. that no longer own a master ; again applied
to swords in Cymh. ii. 4. 60.

208 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

143. To lie discolourd, by lying stained with blood ; the in-
finitive used indefinitely ; see Abb, § 356 : this place of peace,
this place which should be sacred from all quarrels.

145. wliat an unkind hour, what a cruel hour is this which
is, etc.

148. comfortable. In speaking of " certain words dealing with
the agent," Walker, Crit. Exarn. etc., pp. 99, 100, says "com-
fortable— and in like manner tincomfoi-table and discomfortahh —
are unifoi'mly applied to a person, or to a thing pei'sonified, the
idea of will and purpose being always implied in them." Among
other passages which he quotes in illustration are Tim. iv. 3. 497,
A. W.i. \. 86, Lear, i. 4. 327, R. II- iii. 2. 36, and that in the
text.

151. that nest, as we should say, ' that den,' though nest gives
a fuller idea of abundance. In "a nest of traitors," W. T. ii.
3. 81, there is the same idea of fulness.

152. unnatural. Steevens says that the sleep of Juliet was un-
natural as being brought on by drugs, and this has always seemed
to me to be the sense. Delius and Schmidt interpret " where it
is unnatural to sleep."

153. contradict, contend against.

155. Thy husband ... dead, your husband lying there in your
arms is dead.

156. dispose of thee, make arrangements for your living.
158. to question, to talk, to discixss what is best.

162. timeless, untimely, premature.

163. 0 churl, said in loving reproach.

164. To help me after, to enable me to follow you.

166. a restorative, a medicine which will restore me to the
truest life, a life of union with you in death.

169. there rust, not in your own natural sheath, but in the
sheath of my breast ; the first quarto gives rest, which many
editors prefer, and possibly this is supported by the antithesis
with Let me die, though to me rust seems the more expressive
word.

172. whoe'er. For neglect of the inflection of who, see Abb.
§ 274 : attach, apprehend ; a legal term.

175. this two days, see note on iv. 3. 40.

177. some others search, let some seek out others.

178. these woes, tliese miserable ones.

179. ground, with a wretched pun.

SCENE HI.] NOTES. 209

180. circumstance, further detail, particulars, or perhaps in-
quiry into such detail ; cp. above, ii. 5. 36.

186. A great suspicion. Said with true Dogberry solemnity.

187. is so early up. As if the misadventure, like himself, had
rLsen early from bed, was stirring early ; cp., for the quasi-
personification, A'. J. v. 5. 21, " The day shall not be up so soon
as I.'

189. should it be, can it possibly be.

192. With open outcry, like dogs in full cry after game.

19.3. startles, suddenly bursts forth ; this intransitive use is
now obsolete, to ' start ' being used in its stead.

195. dead before, as she had been supposed to be.

197. know, ascertain by inquiry.

202. hath mistaen, has mistaken its proper abode : his house,
its sheath.

203. on the back, daggers being worn behind the back.

204. And it mis-sheathed, for it, the reading of the second
quarto, most editors prefer ?«, which the other copies give. In
this case the words " for, lo, ... Montague " are parenthetical.

205. 6. is as a bell . . . sepulchre, is like a bell summoning me
to my death : cp. A'. /. ii. 1. 201, " Who is it that hath imtmed
us to the walls?" and Mach. ii. 1. 62-4. "the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan, for it is a knell That summons thee to
heaven or to hell."

20S. down, struck down in death ; -nith a play on the words
up and down.

211. conspires .. age, conspires to put an end to an old man
like me.

213. 0 thou untaught ! 0 ill-disciplined one ! manners, re-
garded as a singular in thought ; see Abb. § 335.

214. To press . . grave ? comparing the rudeness to that of
pressing before a father into a room, etc.

215. the mouth of outrage, your passionate exclamations.
Staunton compares i. H. VI. iv. 1. 126, "are you not ashamed
With this immodest clamorous outrage To trouble and disturb the
king and us ? ". where the reference is to the " audacious prate"
of York, Somerset, etc.

216. ambiguities, obscure relation of events ; now generally
used of language wliich maj- bear two meanings.

210 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

217. descent, origin ; carrying on the metaphor of a stream
that flows downward from its source.

218, 9. will I ... death, I will put myself at the head of your
grievances and lead you on to vengeance, even if that vengeance
be the death of those to whom those grievances are due.

220. And let ... patience, and let calamity submit patiently to
calm endurance ; patiently control your sense of injury.

221. parties of suspicion, those suspected, those who have a
part, share, in the suspicion that is abi'oad.

222. I am... least, I, though least capable (physically) of such
a deed, am most suspected of having committed it.

224. Doth make against me, tell against me, as witnesses
against me ; time and place is to be taken as a single idea.

225,6. both to impeach ... excused, to accuse myself wliile
pleading my excuse, and at the same time to clear myself while
decreeing my condemnation ; i.e. to accuse myself on account of
my actions, to excuse myself on account of my intentions. For
a similar collocation, cp. A. C. iv. 12, 8, 9, " His fretted fortunes
give him hope, and fear, Of what he has, and has not " ; W. T.
iii. 6. 165, " though I with death, and with Reward, did tlireaten
and encourage him Not doing it, and being done." In impeach
the original idea is that of hindering, F. empecher, to hinder, the
first step in an accusation being to hinder the accused from
evading jurisdiction.

227. in this, in, or of, this matter.

228, 0. for my short . . tale, for the short time I have to live is
not long enough for a tedious tale ; my short date of breath = the
short date of my breath ; cp. for the transposition, A. C. iv. 6.
39, " My latter part of life,' i.e. the latter part of my life ;
Haml. iv. 5. 213, "His means of death," i.e. the means of his
death ; and see Abb. § 423.

232. their stol'n marriage -day, the day of their stolen marriage,
of their marriage stealthily celebrated.

234. Banish'd, caused to be banished.

236. siege, attack, assault; cp. above, i. 1. 218. and K. J.
V. 7. 16, " his [hc. death's) s{e(je is now Against the mind." So
Lamb talks of "an obsession of grief."

239. bid, past tense.

240. rid her from, enable her to escape from.

245. form, appearance.

246. as this dire night. Allen on Temp. i. 2. 70, "as at this

SCENE iii.J ^ NOTES. 211

time,'' considers as in such exi^ressions to mark a greater or less
precision or emphasis ; Abbott, § 114, though regarding as in
definitions of time as apparently redundant, thinks that here it
may mean 'as (he did come),' Avhich seems to me to be a great
forcing of language.

247. borrowed grave, grave not properly her owti.

248. Being the time. "This belongs to 'as this dire night'"
(Delius).

250. stay'd, prevented.

252. hour, metrically a dissyllable ; see Abb. § 480.

254. closely, in secrecy.

256. some minute, a minute or so.

258. true, faithful in his love.

260. this work of heaven, i.e. Romeo's death.

262. too desperate, sc. to care for life without Romeo : would
not go, refused to go.

263. as it seems. The Friar having left her was not actual
witness of her suicide.

267. some hour, some short time. i.e. for it cannot be long
before I shall die in the course of nature.

269. still, ever : for, as being.

270. what can ... this? what evidence can he give as to this
matter ?

272. in post, see note on v. i. 21.

275. going in the vault, as he entered the vault.

278. raised, summoned, called up.

279. what made your master, what was your master doing
here ? what business or object had he in coming here.

282. Anon, suddenly ; see note on ii. '2. 137.

283. by and by, presently, after a short interval.
285. make good, confirm, substantiate.

291. See, what ... hate, see how your hatred is punished.

292. That heaven ... love ! in the fact that heaven employs the
love that was exchanged between Romeo and Juliet (and which
should have been a bond of union to the two families) as a
means to crush all happiness out of your lives.

293. winking at, partially closing my eyes to, not taking that
^^gorous notice which, as the head of the state, I was bound to
take.

296. This is ... jointure, the only dowry you can make my

212 ROMEO AND JULIET. [act v.

daughter ; jointure, properly the property estated on the wife by
the husband when they are joined in marriage.

299. by that name, as ' Verona. '

300, at such rate be set, be valued at so high a price.

302. As rich, in equal splendour.

303. Poor ... enmity, an inadequate atonement for our hatred.

304. glooming, gloomy ; which the fourth folio gives. The
participle seems more forcible from its notion of activity.

305. for sorrow, on account of sorrow.

306. Go hence, to have, accompanying me hence, in order that
we may have.

307. Some ... punished. In the novel from which the plot is
taken, says Steevens, we find that the Nurse was banished for
concealing the marriage, IJalthasar set at liberty as having onl}'
acted in obedience to Romeo's orders, the Apothecary tortured
and hanged, and the Friar allowed to retire to a hermitage near
Verona.

INDEX TO NOTES.

Abroach, i. 1. 91.
Adam Cupid, ii. 1. 13.
Addle, iii. 1. 22.
Ado, iii. 4. 23.
Agate-stone, i. 4. 55.
Alack, ii. 2. 71.
Alike, Pr. i. 1.
Alligator, v. 1. 43.
Aloof, V. 3. 1.
Amerce, iii. 1. 186.
Anatomy, iii. 3. 107.
Anon, i. 5. 141.
Answer, ii. 4. 11.
Antic, i. 5. 54.
Apace, ii. 4. 182.
Aspired, iii. 1. 113.
Atomies, i. 4. 57.

B

Bandy, ii. 5. 14.
Banquet, i. 5. 120.
Bauble, ii. 4. 82.
Bear a brain, i. 3. 28.
Beetle-brows, i. 4. 32.
Beshrew, ii. 5. 51.
Bite by the ear, ii. 4. 69.
Bite my thumb, i. 1. 13.
Blaze, iii. 3. 151.
Blazon, ii. 6. 26.
Blubbering, iii. 3. 87.
Bons, ii. 4. .32.
Bout, i. 5. 15.

Bow of lath, i. 4. 5.
Butt-shaft, ii. 4. 16

C

Caitiff, V. 1. 52.
Cancelled, iii. 3. 98.
Canker'd, i. 1 . 82.
Canopy, v. 3. 13.
Carries it away, iii. 1.71.
Chequering, ii. 3. 2.
Cheveril. ii. 4. 74.
Chop-logic, iii. 5. 149.
Clubs, i. 1. 60.
Coals, to carry, i. 1. 1.
Cock-a-hoop, i. 5. 79.
Cockatrice, iii. 2. 38.
Coil, ii. 5. 65.
Colliers, i. 1. 2.
Comfortable, v. 3. 148.
Compare (sb. ), ii. 5. 42; iii.

5. 237.
Conceit, ii. 6. 30.
Conduct, iii. 1. 120 ; v. 3. 116.
County, i. 2. 64.
Courtship, iii. 3. 34.
Crow-keeper, i. 4. 6.
Curfew-bell, iv. 4. 4.
Curtains, iv. 3. 59.

D

Dateless, v. 3. 1 15.
Defy, V. 1. 24.
Dirges, iv. 5. 84.

213

214

ROMEO AND JULIET.

Discord, iii. 5. 28.
Division, iii. 5. 29.
Distemperatiire, ii. 3. 40.
Doctrine, i. 1. 224.
Dooms-day, iii. 3. 9.
Doves, ii. 4. 7.
Dram, iii. 5. 90.
Dry-beat, iii. 1. 76.
Ducats, V. 1. 59.
Dun, i. 4. 40, 1.

E

Earth, lady of my, i. 2. 15.
Earthquake, i. 3. 22.
Echo, ii. 2. 162.
Elf-locks, i. 4. 90.
Endart, i. 3. 77.
Errand, iii. 3. 79.
Ethiope, i. 5. 44.
Evening mass, iv. 1 . 38.
Exhales, iii. 5. 13.

Fa, iv. 5. 111.
Fee-simple, iii. 1. 30.
Festival (adj.), iv. 5. 80.
Fettle, iii. 5. 153.
Fiddlestick, iii. 1. 45.
Flattering truth, v. 1. 1.
Flirt-gills, ii. 4. 123.
Flowered , ii. 4. 55.
Forehead, high, ii. 1. 18.
Franciscan, v. 2. 1.

G

Gear, ii. 4. 89.
Give leave, i. 3. 6.
Gleek, iv. 5. 107.
God-den, i. 2._ 56^
Goodman, i. 5. 75.
Gore-blood, iii. 2. 47.
Gossamer, ii. 6. 18.
Gossips, ii. 1. 11.
Gracious, ii. 2. 113.
Green sickness, iii. 5. 156.
Grievance, i. 1. 143.

H

Hair, against the, ii. 4. 84.
Hall, a, i. 5. 24.
Hasty, V. 1. 64.
Have at, i. 1. 59.
Hildings, ii. 4. 38.
Hoodwink'd, i. 4. 4.
Hunts-up, a, iii. 5. 34.

Impeach, v. 3. 225.
Inherit, i. 2. 30.
Injuries, iii. 1. 63.

Jacks, ii. t. 121.
Jaunce, ii. 5. 26.
Jealous-hood, iv. 4. 13.
Joint-stools, i. 5. 5.
Jointure, v. 3. 296.

Label, iv. 1. 57.
Lantern, v. 3. 84.
Lammas-tide, i. 3. 14.
Like of, 1. 3. 75.
Living (sb.), iv. 5. 36.
Logger-head, iv. 4. 20.
Long-spinners, i. 4. 59.
Long sword, i. 1- 62.
Lour, ii. 5. 6.

M

Mab, i. 4 53.
Mammet, iii. 5. 185.
Manage (vb.), i. 1. 56.
Mandrakes, iv. 3. 47.
Margent, i. 3. 66.
Married, i. 3. 63.
Marry, i. 1. 27.
Marchpane, i. 5. 7-
Maskers, i. 4. 1.
Measure = dance, i. 4. 10.
Mew'd, iii. 4. 11.

IXDEX TO XOTES.

215

Minim, ii. 4. 20.
Misteniper'd, i. 1. 74,
Modern, iii. 2. 111.
Monument, v. 1. IS.
Muffle, V. 3. 21.
Mutiny, Pr. i. 3.

N

Natural, a, ii. 4. 81.
Needy, iii. .5. 105.
Neighbour (adj.), ii. 6 27.
Nice, iii. 1. 150.
Nick -name, ii. 1. 12.
Nothing (adv.), i. 1. 99.

O

Obsequies, v. 2, 16.
Orchard, ii. 1. 5.
Orisons, iv. 3. 3.
Owes, ii. 4. 46.

Palmer, i. 5. 98.
Paly, iv. 1. 100.
Passado, ii. 4. 24.
Passing, i. 1. 220.
Pastry, iv. 4. 2.
Peer (vb.), i. 1 106.
Pentecost, i. 5. 34.
Pilcher, iii. 1. 77.
Pin, ii. 4. 15
Pitch, i. 4. 21
Plantain -leaf, i. 2. 51.
Poised, i. 2. 94.
Pomegranate-tree, iii. 5. 4.
Post, v. 1. 21.
Presence, v. 3. 86.
Preserving, i. 1. ISO.
Prick-song, ii. 4. 20.
Princox, i. 5. 84.
Proof, i. 1. 196.
Puling, iii. 5. 184.

Q

Quoth, i. 3. 32.

R

R, ii. 4. 175.
Re, iv. 5, 111.
Rearward, a, iii. 2. 112.
Rebeck, iv. 5. 125.
Region, ii. 2. 21.
Respective, iii. 1. 119.
Ropery, ii. 4. 116.
Rosemary, ii. 4. 173.
Runagate, iii. 5. 89.
Runaways, iii. 2. 6.

S

Save the mark, iii. 2. 44.
Scales, i. 2. 95.
Sharps, iii. 5. 28.
Shield, iv. 1. 41.
Shrift, i. 1. 145.
Siege, V. 3. 236.
Single-soled, ii. 4. 59.
Skains-mates, ii. 4. 123.
Slip, ii. 4. 44.
Slop, ii. 4. 41.
Slug-abed, iv. 5. 2.
Solemnity, i. 5. 55.
Sorted, iii. 5. 109.
Spanisli blades, i. 4. 84.
Sped, iii. 1. 87.
Spheres, ii. '2. 17.
Stoccata, iii. 1. 71-
Stuffd. iii. 5. 182.
Surcease, iv. 1. 97-
Swashing blow, i. 1. 49.
Sweeting, ii. 4. 71-
Swounded, iii. 2. 47.

T

Tackled-stair, ii. 4. 156.
Tall, ii. 4. 28.
Tassel-gentle, ii. 2. 160

216

ROMEO AND JULIET.

Teen, i. 3. 12.
Tithe-pig, i. 4. 79.
Tibalt, ii. 4. 18.
Titan, ii. 3. 4
Top-gallant, ii. 4. 157.
Trencher, i. 5. 2.
Truckle-bed, ii. 1. 28.
Trudge, i. 2. 34.

U

Unbound lover, i. 3. 67.
Unbruised, ii. 3. 37.
Untangled, i. 4. 91.

Validity, iii. 3. 33.
Verona, Pr. i. 2.

Vestal, ii. 2. 8.
Visor, i. 4. 30.

W

Wax, man of, i. 3 56.
Wayward, iv. 2. 47.
Wean'd, i. 3. 23.
Weeds, v. 1. 39.
Well-a-day, iii. 2. 28.
^^'here =with whom, i. 1. 154.
Wild-goose chase, ii. 4. 63.
Wits, the five, i. 4. 47.
Wormwood, i. 3. 25.
Wreak, iii. 5. 101.

'Zounds, iii. 1. 46.

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